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-   -   VM General News Thread (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33703061)

Media Boy UK 15-04-2019 23:48
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35991318)
Malone is getting old and wants to sell. LG is too small on its own now, so either Malone links all his various assets up, or he sells.

I see the cable cos sold off by LG to Vodafone (which gets cleared soon by the European Commission) as the warm up act to come.

Why not?

Comcast is a cable company, by nature.
Comcast owning both Sky and Virgin Media passing all UK Media regulatory paperwork make any deal unlike to happen.

Vodafone would be the safe bet.

---------- Post added at 23:48 ---------- Previous post was at 23:41 ----------

Look that the carry on Global Radio has buying GMG Radio - They was told by the Competition Commission to sell seven stations across the network. Global Radio did sell a number of stations to the Irish broadcaster Communicorp.

Pierre 16-04-2019 22:48
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35991318)
LG is too small on its own now.
Yes, it’s tiny.

http://www.lla.com/about-us.html

OLD BOY 17-04-2019 08:33
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35991014)
Surprise rival to VM and BT:

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style...fer-price-deal

---------- Post added at 15:00 ---------- Previous post was at 14:55 ----------



I suppose they'll have to weigh up the fact that it looks good to their regulator and will boost their income against the fact that it will help their competitors (including Sky) and remove a USP:

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style...e-update-speed

If they do this though, maybe VM will again* tie it in with access to the missing Sky channels from their TV service, namely Sky Atlantic.

* In the past they negotiated the supply of many missing channels in return for selling their own channels to Sky.
That should be on the cards anyway, given the announcement by Sky in relation to the BT deal last year.

---------- Post added at 08:31 ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35991318)
Malone is getting old and wants to sell. LG is too small on its own now, so either Malone links all his various assets up, or he sells.

I see the cable cos sold off by LG to Vodafone (which gets cleared soon by the European Commission) as the warm up act to come.

Why not?

Comcast is a cable company, by nature.
I don't think it would get through the Competition Commission, Horizon.

---------- Post added at 08:33 ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 35991397)
It's not a tiny organisation, of course, but it is small in relation to the biggest hitters and therefore needs to become part of something bigger if it wants to compete effectively in this global market.

denphone 17-04-2019 08:43
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991413)
That should be on the cards anyway, given the announcement by Sky in relation to the BT deal last year.
Still waiting...

---------- Post added at 08:42 ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991413)

I don't think it would get through the Competition Commission, Horizon.
You would have more chance of getting a grand national winner at 100/1 OB.

---------- Post added at 08:43 ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991413)
It's not a tiny organisation, of course, but it is small in relation to the biggest hitters and therefore needs to become part of something bigger if it wants to compete effectively in this global market.
Why does it need to become a part of something bigger OB?

Media Boy UK 17-04-2019 13:03
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991417)
You would have more chance of getting a grand national winner at 100/1 OB.
I DID win the bet of 100/1 on rand national winner years ago!

denphone 17-04-2019 13:22
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 35991456)
I DID win the bet of 100/1 on rand national winner years ago!
Mon Mome.;)

Media Boy UK 17-04-2019 13:34
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991462)
Mon Mome.;)
Yes. I forgot to post name

Horizon 17-04-2019 18:32
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 35991320)
Comcast owning both Sky and Virgin Media passing all UK Media regulatory paperwork make any deal unlike to happen.

Vodafone would be the safe bet..
Yet, the same authorities allowed T-Mobile and Orange to merge.

In a world dominated by the tech giants, I don't think its entirely out of the question.

denphone 17-04-2019 18:39
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35991509)
Yet, the same authorities allowed T-Mobile and Orange to merge.

In a world dominated by the tech giants, I don't think its entirely out of the question.
Not a chance of it happening IMO.

OLD BOY 17-04-2019 19:10
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991417)
Still waiting...

Why does it need to become a part of something bigger OB?
We are still waiting for Sky Atlantic, yes. If we get it, the thing to focus on is that the existing contract runs out in May.

VM could still refuse to pay the price Sky are holding out for of course, but now BT are about to get the channel through Now TV on its platform, Virgin will not want to fall behind. For similar reasons, I hope that they have changed tack over Prime.

Liberty Global needs to be as big as the giant global players to compete effectively, to negotiate effectively for content and to avoid being gobbled up itself.

1andrew1 17-04-2019 23:50
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 35991509)
Yet, the same authorities allowed T-Mobile and Orange to merge.

In a world dominated by the tech giants, I don't think its entirely out of the question.
Question is - is the combined market share over 29%, In a lot of UK markets, the VM-Sky share would be. Maybe not mobile but probably TV and broadband.

denphone 18-04-2019 07:36
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991517)
We are still waiting for Sky Atlantic, yes. If we get it, the thing to focus on is that the existing contract runs out in May.
How many times have you said that and yet nothing changes.

---------- Post added at 07:33 ---------- Previous post was at 07:31 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991517)
VM could still refuse to pay the price Sky are holding out for of course, but now BT are about to get the channel through Now TV on its platform, Virgin will not want to fall behind. For similar reasons, I hope that they have changed tack over Prime.
Or Sky are asking far too much or are just simply refusing to wholesale it to Virgin

---------- Post added at 07:36 ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991517)
VM could still refuse to pay the price Sky are holding out for of course, but now BT are about to get the channel through Now TV on its platform, Virgin will not want to fall behind. For similar reasons, I hope that they have changed tack over Prime.
Its probably the other way round as Prime has not appeared on any of the major TV platforms as of yet...

1andrew1 18-04-2019 08:07
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991554)
It's probably the other way round as Prime has not appeared on any of the major TV platforms as of yet...
It's on BT.
https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tv/...11364301945669

denphone 18-04-2019 08:53
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 35991561)
l must have missed that so my apologies to OB there.

Obviously the next question is why have Virgin and Sky not got it as there could be many reasons for its absence from their platforms.

OLD BOY 22-04-2019 11:57
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991554)
How many times have you said that and yet nothing changes.
May isn't here yet, Den!

---------- Post added at 11:57 ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35991567)
l must have missed that so my apologies to OB there.

Obviously the next question is why have Virgin and Sky not got it as there could be many reasons for its absence from their platforms.
Virgin were well on the way to adding Prime when it is rumoured that Liberty Global stepped in and poured cold water on the deal. Something to do with Amazon being a retail company, although I don't know why that was ever an issue.

LG have made clear on a number of occasions that they want to be a super-aggregator of content, but others will pip them to the post if they keep taking so long to add streaming content to their platform.

Hopefully, with Prime arriving on BT, this has forced a re-think by LG.

RichardCoulter 22-04-2019 13:44
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35991517)
We are still waiting for Sky Atlantic, yes. If we get it, the thing to focus on is that the existing contract runs out in May.

VM could still refuse to pay the price Sky are holding out for of course, but now BT are about to get the channel through Now TV on its platform, Virgin will not want to fall behind. For similar reasons, I hope that they have changed tack over Prime.

Liberty Global needs to be as big as the giant global players to compete effectively, to negotiate effectively for content and to avoid being gobbled up itself.
I suspect that the delay is down to the final series of Game of Thrones having just started and that Sky won't let us have SA until the final series of GOT has ended.

OLD BOY 22-04-2019 19:52
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35991830)
I suspect that the delay is down to the final series of Game of Thrones having just started and that Sky won't let us have SA until the final series of GOT has ended.
I'm pretty sure you are right, and it coincides with the end of the five-year carriage deal between Sky and Virgin.

1andrew1 23-04-2019 13:30
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Amazon Prime is coming from this Summer! Old Boy will be chuffed! :)
Quote:
Virgin Media is to become the first Liberty Global company to integrate the Amazon Prime Video app into its TV platform.
Enrique Rodriguez, Liberty Global’s EVP and Chief Technology Officer said: “We’re excited to partner with Amazon to deliver its highly-popular content, including Amazon Originals and Exclusives, directly to our consumers. We know our customers want to see their favourite shows and programming on their big screen at home, and our partnership with streaming services like Amazon continues to make that happen.”
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2019...ime-video-app/

OLD BOY 23-04-2019 13:32
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 35991976)
Amazon Prime is coming from this Summer! Old Boy will be chuffed! :)

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2019...ime-video-app/
Yes, I am very chuffed. Just need Sky Atlantic now and I will no longer need my streaming sticks!

Martin_D 24-04-2019 00:01
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Liberty Global Has announced that Lutz Schüler has been appointed CEO of @virginmediacorp, effective on June 11th. He joined Virgin Media as Chief Operating Officer in September 2018, after eight years running Liberty Global’s operations in Germany

Press Release: https://2zn23x1nwzzj494slw48aylw-wpe...as-VM-CEO..pdf

Kushan 24-04-2019 20:48
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Is Tom stepping down or is Tom getting the boot?

1andrew1 24-04-2019 20:57
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kushan (Post 35992144)
Is Tom stepping down or is Tom getting the boot?
He decided to move back to Italy to re-join his family. Hence a generous handover period.

OLD BOY 25-04-2019 13:08
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kushan (Post 35992144)
Is Tom stepping down or is Tom getting the boot?
He's retiring, isn't he? At 64 years of age, I think that is the likely reason.

1andrew1 25-04-2019 13:22
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35992190)
He's retiring, isn't he? At 64 years of age, I think that is the likely reason.
Tom's 52.

spiderplant 25-04-2019 13:32
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 35992192)
Tom's 52.
He's 63

1andrew1 25-04-2019 14:28
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
lol, give Farage his calculator back! He was born in May 1966. :D
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/c...91237/officers

denphone 25-04-2019 15:02
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 35992192)
Tom's 52.
Younger then me.;)

spiderplant 25-04-2019 15:30
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 35992196)
lol, give Farage his calculator back! He was born in May 1966. :D
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/c...91237/officers
Specsavers come highly recommended, Andrew. (Other opticians are available)

1andrew1 25-04-2019 15:43
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 35992206)
Specsavers come highly recommended, Andrew. (Other opticians are available)
:D Ooops, sorry everyone, read the wrong person there. :dunce:

OLD BOY 26-04-2019 07:42
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Jeff Dodds has been appointed as new Chief Operating Officer to Virgin Media.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2019...gin-media-coo/

Gavin-D 15-05-2019 15:55
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Broadband, TV, mobile and landline phone companies will have to tell customers when their contract is coming to an end and show them the best deals available under new rules coming into effect on 15th February 2019

https://news.sky.com/story/new-rules...edium=referral

denphone 15-05-2019 15:59
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
That can only be good for the customer as there will be more transparency and less smoke and mirrors.

Gavin-D 16-05-2019 14:20
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavin-D (Post 35994970)
Broadband, TV, mobile and landline phone companies will have to tell customers when their contract is coming to an end and show them the best deals available under new rules coming into effect on 15th February 2019

https://news.sky.com/story/new-rules...edium=referral
Of course that should have said 15th February 2020

Horizon 22-05-2019 23:44
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
In my predecessor thread to this one I talked about Starz, the American competitor to HBO that was fully owned by Malone until he swapped ownership in that for a stake in Lionsgate who bought Starz. Anyway... CBS is looking to buy Starz and if that happens, that might then start the ball rolling on the next wave of media mergers that I've spoken about.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/21/lion...follow-up.html

On the linked page if you scroll down is the latest interview that Malone did with CNBC, well worth a listen if you have the time. He makes no secret he thinks his companies should be part of larger media empires, it's just the question of which one.

Horizon 29-06-2019 12:45
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
CBS and sister company Viacom are about to remerge again in the next month or so and John Malone has stated quite clearly he would like his companies to be part of that entity too which in turn may get gobbled up by American mobile company Verizon, which used to be half owned by Vodafone...

So, watch this space, we might soon get a announcement over the coming months of Discovery and Malone's other companies joining up with CBS/Viacom.

Malone is a minority shareholder in Viacom.

Edit: Although being a cableco guy at heart, don't be surprised if Comcast and Discovery come together, that's something Malone has mentioned too.

Horizon 16-07-2019 17:53
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Just a update, the CBS and Viacom remerger announcement is imminent, within the next few weeks, but also expect something to happen soon with Discovery too.

There's been heavy buying in options in Discovery over the last few days which in English means someone is putting a a lot of money into Discovery because they reckon (or have inside knowledge) that Discovery will either become a bid target or be the bidder. Watch this space, but expect something to happen over the next three months, based on this options buying spree. The options that have been bought expire in October.

jfman 16-07-2019 18:16
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Insider trading is quite an accusation, even by Cable Forum standards. ;)

Horizon 16-07-2019 18:21
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
If people are betting a lot of money, they are either purely gambling (which in this case, they may be) or they have inside knowledge of a future event. It's how most of these bankers and brokers make money, or do you think the world's financial system is based on honesty and integrity??

jfman 16-07-2019 18:27
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
No I don’t, but I wouldn’t out and out specify that someone could be committing a crime on a public forum. Especially as you appear to be referring to specific transactions.

Horizon 16-07-2019 19:51
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
How on earth would I know who's made those transactions? I named no individual, so your accusation is false. Anyone can make the same comments as I have based on the options buying over the last few days and as I said, they, whoever they are, could be purely gambling, with a lot of money..

jfman 16-07-2019 20:27
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 36002914)
How on earth would I know who's made those transactions? I named no individual, so your accusation is false. Anyone can make the same comments as I have based on the options buying over the last few days and as I said, they, whoever they are, could be purely gambling, with a lot of money..
You seem to have taken my off the cuff remark (note the wink) quite personally. You then doubled down on it (bizarrely) implying insider trading is somehow commonplace.

On a purely technical point though you don’t need to know who is involved in the trade to make an accusation that it’s insider trading: you can make it simply because you don’t find the trade credible given the market conditions. Even if you did know who it is naming the individual/organisation (or not) is irrelevant if it becomes a matter of public record once filed with the SEC.

Horizon 16-07-2019 20:59
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
I think we're probably straying off topic here, so lets wait and see what happens in the aftermath of the CBS/Viacom remerger and pick things up again then if something happens with Discovery.

muppetman11 16-07-2019 22:16
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 36002932)
I think we're probably straying off topic here, so lets wait and see what happens in the aftermath of the CBS/Viacom remerger and pick things up again then if something happens with Discovery.
Discovery would be a good buy for Comcast , whether they’ll go after it though is anyone’s guess.

Media Boy UK 17-07-2019 16:57
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
We saw an story last night on Bloomberg HD (Virgin UK Channel 609) that AT&T maybe about to drop CBS from their network over in the USA.

Bloomberg HD says that talks are 'on going'.

Horizon 18-07-2019 16:58
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Vodafone's purchase of LG's companies in Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic and Romania, has been cleared by the EC. Once the deal is completed, it will leave a much slimmed down LG with VM as the only business of note now:

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lib...pe-1203271523/

Could this be the catalyst that Malone needs to then merge VM with his American cable interests?

denphone 22-07-2019 19:07
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media is offering customers free 4K TVs worth £350 in new broadband deal.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/virgi...-free-18508723

Quote:
Sport and movie fanatics can get their hands on a completely free 43-inch Toshiba TV that usually sells for £349 - or £150 bill credit if they'd prefer - by signing up to one of four Virgin Media sport or film bundles.
Quote:
Any new customers that pick up either the Bigger Movies, Bigger Sports, Bigger Sports & Movies or Ultimate Oomph bundle will be offered the added extras, which are all available on the Virgin Media website.
Quote:
However, the offers will only last for two days in total, starting today (Monday 22 July) and ending on Wednesday (24 July), so you'll need to be quick if you do want to bag a freebie.

Inactive Digital 22-07-2019 20:30
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 36003738)
Virgin Media is offering customers free 4K TVs worth £350 in new broadband deal.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/virgi...-free-18508723
It reminds me of this Den!
https://www.adforum.com/creative-wor...ers/nationwide

denphone 22-07-2019 20:36
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inactive Digital (Post 36003749)
New customers only as usual ID.

Gavin-D 22-07-2019 21:13
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 36003752)
New customers only as usual ID.
Makes you wonder why VM don't give existing customers access to the same deals if they agree to a new contract like Sky do

Media Boy UK 23-07-2019 12:16
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 36003064)
We saw an story last night on Bloomberg HD (Virgin UK Channel 609) that AT&T maybe about to drop CBS from their network over in the USA.

Bloomberg HD says that talks are 'on going'.
USA Telly news UPDATE:

AT&T has now drop CBS from DirecTV, U-verse and DirecTV Now.

Reports say CBS was drop on Saturday.

Inactive Digital 24-07-2019 22:54
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Gigabit speeds to be deployed across the entire network by the end of 2021.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...in-speed-lead/ (subscription)

daveoc14 25-07-2019 09:09
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Our local paper here in Southampton is running a story today saying it has been trialled here and will be rolled out here first.

denphone 07-11-2019 08:05
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media have posted their latest Q3 2019 results.

https://www.libertyglobal.com/wp-con...19-Release.pdf

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...ale-shift.html

denphone 25-03-2020 09:59
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media to recruit 500 call-centre staff in UK.

https://www.ft.com/content/75d22f10-...f-41bea055720b

spiderplant 25-03-2020 11:31
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 36028870)
Virgin Media to recruit 500 call-centre staff in UK.

https://www.ft.com/content/75d22f10-...f-41bea055720b
https://www.virginmedia.com/corporat...ntry-connected

pip08456 25-03-2020 16:18
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Has anyone told Kushan? He might be able to get his job back!:D

Kushan 25-03-2020 16:46
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 36028972)
Has anyone told Kushan? He might be able to get his job back!:D
I'd sooner catch Corona :p:

pip08456 25-03-2020 17:06
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kushan (Post 36028975)
I'd sooner catch Corona :p:
Thought so. :D

denphone 28-05-2020 12:29
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media to disappear from the UK high street.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...et-coronavirus

Quote:
Virgin Media is to disappear from the high street after deciding its network of more than 50 retail stores will stay shut once the coronavirus pandemic lockdown ends.
Quote:
About 300 of those posts will be in customer care, the majority of those based permanently at home, a decision Virgin Media has taken because of the success of its call centre staff moving to a working-from-home environment during the lockdown. Another 50 newly created roles relate mostly to field sales roles.

Kushan 28-05-2020 12:38
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Not a massive surprise, the high-street is going to be very different when this is all said and done.

denphone 28-05-2020 12:48
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Exactly as Sky are reducing a lot of their outlets as well.

1andrew1 28-05-2020 16:21
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by denphone (Post 36037415)
Virgin Media to disappear from the UK high street.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...et-coronavirus
I would imagine that post-merger, the O2 shops will market Virgin Media's services as well, in the way that the EE shops now market BT services - well, once they reopen, that is!

Pierre 28-05-2020 18:27
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
I’ve never understood why they were there anyway

1andrew1 28-05-2020 18:53
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36037501)
I’ve never understood why they were there anyway
They were inherited from Virgin Mobile as that's how most mobile phones were sold back in the day.

Gavin-D 01-08-2020 15:38
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media will freeze its prices this year after scrapping the annual 5% hike

No doubt they'll make it for it with either 2 rises next year or a bumper 10% rise in Autumn 2021.

Tricky Trevor 02-08-2020 07:03
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Just what I was thinking when I read the news

1andrew1 02-08-2020 09:50
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavin-D (Post 36045340)
Virgin Media will freeze its prices this year after scrapping the annual 5% hike

No doubt they'll make it for it with either 2 rises next year or a bumper 10% rise in Autumn 2021.
I'm sure VM would increase its prices if it could. Sadly, we're just at the start of a big recession so organisations like VM will be reluctant to attempt any significant price rises in 2021.
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/ci...on-mean-for-uk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52986863

Inactive Digital 02-08-2020 10:03
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36045416)
I'm sure VM would increase its prices if it could. Sadly, we're just at the start of a big recession so organisations like VM will be reluctant to attempt any significant price rises in 2021.
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/ci...on-mean-for-uk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52986863
It's probably as much to do with VM's ability to handle a large volume of inbound calls at the moment too. According to the website, some of their call centres are still closed. Welcome news for customers though.

If I was VM, I'd use this as an opportunity to align with Sky's annual rise in April, so that Sport and Cinema customers don't have quite so many rounds of price rises each year.

1andrew1 02-08-2020 10:48
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inactive Digital (Post 36045419)
It's probably as much to do with VM's ability to handle a large volume of inbound calls at the moment too. According to the website, some of their call centres are still closed. Welcome news for customers though.

If I was VM, I'd use this as an opportunity to align with Sky's annual rise in April, so that Sport and Cinema customers don't have quite so many rounds of price rises each year.
I think aligning VM's price rises to April is a sensible one although it's not guaranteed that Sky will raise its prices next April, for the reason I outlined.

Inactive Digital 02-08-2020 11:28
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36045423)
I think aligning VM's price rises to April is a sensible one although it's not guaranteed that Sky will raise its prices next April, for the reason I outlined.
Yes, I remember Sky freezing their prices for a year during the recession - it would have been around 2009 or 2010. You probably remember that Virgin used to raise prices in February, but that changed after 2016, when there were two price rises. I guess this year's freeze partly makes up for that double rise.

vincerooney 05-08-2020 00:51
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
I'm reading the o2 and three mobile merger is back on potentially after the EU court backed down.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...uk-merger.html

What does this mean for o2-virgin media merger?? or will o2 merge with 3 and then merge with virgin media?!

surely the courts wont allow that as it shrinks the market even more

Pierre 05-08-2020 07:25
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by vincerooney (Post 36045665)
I'm reading the o2 and three mobile merger is back on potentially after the EU court backed down.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...uk-merger.html

What does this mean for o2-virgin media merger?? or will o2 merge with 3 and then merge with virgin media?!

surely the courts wont allow that as it shrinks the market even more
It’s not “back on”.

The reason for it being stopped has been overturned that’s all. O2 have moved on and the joint venture with VM is well on track.

Just goes to show though how damaging EU bureaucracy can be to business. 4 years down the line that decision has taken.

Aye Up 07-08-2020 20:46
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36045675)
It’s not “back on”.

The reason for it being stopped has been overturned that’s all. O2 have moved on and the joint venture with VM is well on track.

Just goes to show though how damaging EU bureaucracy can be to business. 4 years down the line that decision has taken.
The EU commission was never going to go against the wishes of Ofcom, CMA and the Government on that decision. It made no sense if I'm honest, its one of the few things I will praise the EU for.

However as you say the JV between VM and O2 is going ahead, there is very litte concern in respect of competition as O2 doesn't have a fixed line network and VM doesn't have its own mobile network. This will likely go through with little issue, plus I doubt the EU Commission will given an opinion anyway considering we are leaving in the next 4 and a bit months.

O2 + Three would have reduced competition, however the JV does not.

1andrew1 12-08-2020 10:35
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Liberty Global today said it has acquired Swiss telecoms group Sunrise Communications in a deal worth 6.8bn Swiss francs ($7.4bn).

Liberty, which is run by US cable mogul John Malone, said it had agreed to buy Sunrise for 110 Swiss francs a share, representing a 32 per cent premium on the company’s average share price in the 60 days to 11 August...

The deal comes less than a year after Sunrise’s 6.3bn franc attempt to take over Liberty’s Swiss cable business UPC fell through last year.
https://www.cityam.com/liberty-globa...ise-for-7-4bn/

Horizon 16-05-2021 23:25
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
The old codger is at it again...

AT&T are going to spin off their WarnerMedia assets and merge them with Malone's Discovery.

And of course for those conspiracy theorists out there, don't be surprised if this becomes another one of Malone's great tax "planning" wheezes, with as much AT&T debt (acquired when AT&T bought Time Warner) loaded onto the new entity as possible.

And if anyone remembers my comments regarding ITV, look out for future action there too. Discovery owns a chunk of ITV and with rising ad sales, ITV could be an attractive buy for the new Warner/Discovery company. Check out my first post of this thread (and my original thread on this linked from the first post of this thread), and throw in Lionsgate and Starz into the cooking pot for good measure too.

Also, I would expect Comcast to do a similar thing in the end and spin off its media assets and merge them with someone like Viacom. Remember what's currently going on with VM and O2... read between the lines there.

Now, can the old codger do any better than this deal, of course he can! Don't forget Amazon, Apple et all are still waiting in the wings. $150bn companies might sound big to us, but when you're a trillion dollar company, $150bn is not such a big deal, save for a bit of indigestion. Get the rennies out, as the biggies are still to come in the next few years.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/16/att-...discovery.html

1andrew1 17-05-2021 11:24
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 36079709)
The old codger is at it again...

AT&T are going to spin off their WarnerMedia assets and merge them with Malone's Discovery.

And of course for those conspiracy theorists out there, don't be surprised if this becomes another one of Malone's great tax "planning" wheezes, with as much AT&T debt (acquired when AT&T bought Time Warner) loaded onto the new entity as possible.

And if anyone remembers my comments regarding ITV, look out for future action there too. Discovery owns a chunk of ITV and with rising ad sales, ITV could be an attractive buy for the new Warner/Discovery company. Check out my first post of this thread (and my original thread on this linked from the first post of this thread), and throw in Lionsgate and Starz into the cooking pot for good measure too.

Also, I would expect Comcast to do a similar thing in the end and spin off its media assets and merge them with someone like Viacom. Remember what's currently going on with VM and O2... read between the lines there.

Now, can the old codger do any better than this deal, of course he can! Don't forget Amazon, Apple et all are still waiting in the wings. $150bn companies might sound big to us, but when you're a trillion dollar company, $150bn is not such a big deal, save for a bit of indigestion. Get the rennies out, as the biggies are still to come in the next few years.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/16/att-...discovery.html
All interesting stuff. But it's Liberty Global that owns 9.9% of ITV plc, not Discovery. AT&T deal is likely more about AT&T focusing on infrastructure and finding the discovery content/channels a great fit. I doubt Apple and Amazon are particularly interested, this is more like the separation of cvontent from infrastructure owners and a reversal of vertical integration.

Horizon 08-04-2022 23:25
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Just to update this thread, it's been a while.... but as I speculated many moons ago, John Malone has created the media empire he was planning with the Warner Discovery merger completing tonight.

It certainly didn't go as I thought, but the question is, has he finished? And my reply to that would be, hell no!

It's clear that all of Hollywood will be gobbled up by the tech giants pretty soon, so before that happens to this company, will there be one more step? I think there will be and I wouldn't be surprised if we see this new company go after Paramount.

New corporate website at: https://www.wbd.com/

Media Boy UK 08-04-2022 23:50
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Warner Bros Discovery Merger Closes, Altering Media Landscape; Company To Start Trading Monday

https://deadline.com/2022/04/warner-...pe-1234997171/

---------- Post added at 23:50 ---------- Previous post was at 23:27 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 36118568)
It's clear that all of Hollywood will be gobbled up by the tech giants pretty soon, so before that happens to this company, will there be one more step? I think there will be and I wouldn't be surprised if we see this new company go after Paramount.
I think Comcast and Paramount will merge next but a deal will be like FOX and Disney deal re:

With Shari Redstone keeping a "CBS" name for Paramount USTV network

As no one can own two Major commercial network in America.

Comcast own NBC
Paramount own CBS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ision_channels

Horizon 09-04-2022 00:50
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
I thought that too MB at one point, but would be the point of Redstone keeping CBS, if the studio that makes all the shows for the channel is owned by someone else?

One option could be a full split up of Paramount between Comcast and Warner Discovery, but I just don't see the point of Paramount selling out to Comcast, when it wouldn't be allowed to offload CBS too.

BenMcr 09-04-2022 11:58
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Paramount have only just managed to pull themselves back together. Not sure they'll now want to split up again unless they had to.

Horizon 09-04-2022 16:17
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
I think they do have to.

I go back to what I said yonks ago about Murdoch's comments when he it was announced he was selling out to Disney and his comments went something like, "we used to be the big fish once, but there you go" or words to that affect. Meaning with the likes of trillion and now two trillon dollar companies, Murdoch thought there was zero chance he could compete against them. I think he was right and the same goes for all the rest of Hollywood.

There used to be the Big Six Hollywood companies:Fox, Disney, Warner, Sony, Paramount and Universal and there probably still will be in the future, except the names will be Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Google and perhaps Sony.

OLD BOY 09-04-2022 20:27
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
That certainly appears to be the way things are going.

1andrew1 10-04-2022 09:10
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon (Post 36118633)
I think they do have to.

I go back to what I said yonks ago about Murdoch's comments when he it was announced he was selling out to Disney and his comments went something like, "we used to be the big fish once, but there you go" or words to that affect. Meaning with the likes of trillion and now two trillon dollar companies, Murdoch thought there was zero chance he could compete against them. I think he was right and the same goes for all the rest of Hollywood.

There used to be the Big Six Hollywood companies:Fox, Disney, Warner, Sony, Paramount and Universal and there probably still will be in the future, except the names will be Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Google and perhaps Sony.
Interesting.

Warner Bros Discovery and Disney are now strong enough as they are.

Comcast is getting there so could remain independent unless it decides to split itself up between broadband infeastructure and content.

Sony lacks a streaming arm or US network so a tie-up with Paramount might be logical but could attract a counter-bid from Microsoft, its strong gaming rival.

Google doesn't seem keen on content acquisition yet.

Media Boy UK 10-04-2022 14:49
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36118704)
Sony lacks a streaming arm or US network so a tie-up with Paramount might be logical.
Let hope not look at a bad job Sony did with "CSC Media Group" after buying them.

1andrew1 10-04-2022 15:35
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy UK (Post 36118720)
Let hope not look at a bad job Sony did with "CSC Media Group" after buying them.
CSC was sub-strength but I agree that Sony did not do anything good with it. The CBS Network in the US is strong and Paramount + has potential so I could see Sony investing in these, reuniting Columbia with CBS.

Media Boy UK 10-04-2022 20:44
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36118721)
CSC was sub-strength but I agree that Sony did not do anything good with it. The CBS Network in the US is strong and Paramount + has potential so I could see Sony investing in these, reuniting Columbia with CBS.
Did you know that Sony are set to merge with Zee soon?

Horizon 11-04-2022 21:26
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36118704)
Interesting.

Warner Bros Discovery and Disney are now strong enough as they are.

Comcast is getting there so could remain independent unless it decides to split itself up between broadband infeastructure and content.

Sony lacks a streaming arm or US network so a tie-up with Paramount might be logical but could attract a counter-bid from Microsoft, its strong gaming rival.

Google doesn't seem keen on content acquisition yet.
I judge all of this on what Murdoch said and did and if he thought he couldn't compete against the tech giants, then neither can the other companies that you mention.

Amazon and Apple are now involved in sports and this will only increase. Even as big as Comcast and Disney are, they are still tiny compared to Big Tech and will have to sell out to them at some point, I believe.

Google has youtube, so has everyone else's content..., so I don't predict a big move by them onto Hollywood and although Sony has been silent on the issue, I reckon they will succumb to the inevitable at some point too and sell.

1andrew1 11-04-2022 21:47
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Murdoch quit due to scale. Warner Bros Bros Discovery and Disney have scale.

jfman 11-04-2022 22:45
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36118790)
Murdoch quit due to scale. Warner Bros Bros Discovery and Disney have scale.
Inclined to agree on this. Murdoch was becoming a smaller fish in a massive pond, but I'd not rule out the consolidation of established players maintaining a significant market presence for years if not decades to come.

Yes the tech giants (the actual tech giants - not the ones drowning in debt) are cash heavy and will be looking to invest and gobble up smaller players where they see the potential for longer term profits. Is it the pay-tv market? A long established oligopoly at best?

Horizon 12-04-2022 20:39
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
It's just one oligopoly being replaced by another, one with deeper pockets. So once this transition finishes, it won't really seem that different. There still be 5/6 big Hollywood companies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36118790)
Murdoch quit due to scale. Warner Bros Bros Discovery and Disney have scale.
They have scale, yes, but Discovery just has crap for shows. This new company needs more quality shows. What Discovery does bring to the table is a streamer that is already global, unlike HBO Max.

Gavin-D 15-07-2022 14:28
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Virgin Media O2 have made a £3bn opening offer for TalkTalk

https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-me...ktalk-12652429

1andrew1 15-07-2022 14:53
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavin-D (Post 36128378)
Virgin Media O2 have made a £3bn opening offer for TalkTalk

https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-me...ktalk-12652429
Interesting! Ironically, VM sold its non-cable customer base to TalkTalk seven years ago.

I wonder what the CMA will make of it?

Thanks for posting.

Pierre 17-07-2022 20:10
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavin-D (Post 36128378)
Virgin Media O2 have made a £3bn opening offer for TalkTalk

https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-me...ktalk-12652429
I can only assume this to be a customer grab. Talk Talk doesn’t have any infrastructure of interest to VMO2? They don’t have their own fibre network. They sold their FTTH operation “Fibrenation” to City Fibre a couple of years ago.

It’s not like you buy the customer base, transfer them onto your network and shut down the TT network, making savings that way. The OR and VM networks are not cross compatible by tech or footprint.

VM don’t want to be, and are not, an OpenReach FTTC reseller, they binned their own plans for that when LG bought them.

Interesting, look forward to seeing how it develops.

1andrew1 17-07-2022 23:21
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36128599)
I can only assume this to be a customer grab. Talk Talk doesn’t have any infrastructure of interest to VMO2? They don’t have their own fibre network. They sold their FTTH operation “Fibrenation” to City Fibre a couple of years ago.

It’s not like you buy the customer base, transfer them onto your network and shut down the TT network, making savings that way. The OR and VM networks are not cross compatible by tech or footprint.

VM don’t want to be, and are not, an OpenReach FTTC reseller, they binned their own plans for that when LG bought them.

Interesting, look forward to seeing how it develops.
Over time, you could physically move TalkTalk customers in cabled areas over to VMO2 infrastructure. In effect, each transferred TalkTalk customer would be like a new install with a further cost on top of the £3bn cost of acquiring the company. TalkTalk could end up being the equivalent of BT's Plusnet value brand.

But given the above, I suspect the VMO2-TT talks may just be VMO2's way of making Vodafone pay more and getting some up to date market intelligence.

Paul 18-07-2022 00:11
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Interesting, my backup connection is Talk-Talk.

RichardCoulter 18-07-2022 04:10
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36128382)
Interesting! Ironically, VM sold its non-cable customer base to TalkTalk seven years ago.

I wonder what the CMA will make of it?

Thanks for posting.
A big like when Virgin Media sold off their Cable business in the ROI to LG, then LG bought VM!

Inactive Digital 18-07-2022 11:26
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36128611)
Over time, you could physically move TalkTalk customers in cabled areas over to VMO2 infrastructure. In effect, each transferred TalkTalk customer would be like a new install with a further cost on top of the £3bn cost of acquiring the company. TalkTalk could end up being the equivalent of BT's Plusnet value brand.

But given the above, I suspect the VMO2-TT talks may just be VMO2's way of making Vodafone pay more and getting some up to date market intelligence.
A few years ago, VM was reported to be looking at launching its own low-cost brand 'Ruby' to compete with TalkTalk, Plusnet etc but plans were dropped. This could well be their new way of entering that market segment.

On the other hand, with LG/VMO2 expanding their network in the coming years, the difference in footprint will reduce and TT customers could be gradually migrated over to the cable network. Who knows, interesting times ahead

BenMcr 18-07-2022 17:33
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 36128621)
A big like when Virgin Media sold off their Cable business in the ROI to LG, then LG bought VM!
That was standalone ntl that did that, before the merger with Telewest and Virgin Mobile.

Pierre 18-07-2022 22:42
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 (Post 36128611)
Over time, you could physically move TalkTalk customers in cabled areas over to VMO2 infrastructure. In effect, each transferred TalkTalk customer would be like a new install with a further cost on top of the £3bn cost of acquiring the company. TalkTalk could end up being the equivalent of BT's Plusnet value brand.
But you would still have to maintain the legacy TT network on OpenReach. As customer numbers on that reduce it would soon become unviable.

---------- Post added at 22:42 ---------- Previous post was at 22:28 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inactive Digital (Post 36128657)
A few years ago, VM was reported to be looking at launching its own low-cost brand 'Ruby' to compete with TalkTalk, Plusnet etc but plans were dropped. This could well be their new way of entering that market segment.

On the other hand, with LG/VMO2 expanding their network in the coming years, the difference in footprint will reduce and TT customers could be gradually migrated over to the cable network. Who knows, interesting times ahead
They looked a at launching a budget brand over their own network. Talk Talk is on the Open Reach network.

VM started a project to roll out VM over OpenReach’s FTTC network 10 yrs ago but when LG bought VM they stopped that to differentiate themselves from BT. So I cannot imagine they would want to buy an OpenReach FTTC reseller network.

1andrew1 18-07-2022 22:52
Re: John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36128727)
But you would still have to maintain the legacy TT network on OpenReach. As customer numbers on that reduce it would soon become unviable.
They would have to give customers a deadline for cable installation or lose their service.

For the reasons I explained earlier, I think it's an unlikely acquisition. (Cost of transfer to VM network, high broadband market share).


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