John Malone/Liberty/VM General News Thread

[denphone]

Strange bedfellows one would think Andrew? but when you are taking on the might and influence of Sky then needs must.

[Ignitionnet]

This has to be a harbinger of the apocalypse.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by denphone

Strange bedfellows one would think Andrew? but when you are taking on the might and influence of Sky then needs must.

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

This has to be a harbinger of the apocalypse.

Ha ha! If it makes financial sense for VM to share a few adverts with its competitors then I'm sure it will. Frenemies to use current jargon!

[Horizon]

My take on this, is, that VM fear Sky, Talktalk et all getting hold of and control of BT's/Openreach's infrastructure - and on the cheap.

Although Sky has been doing trials of FTTP, Murdoch has never shown any inclination in investing billions in infrastructure, which is why he piggybacked his satellite tv business off someone's else's satellites.

If a competitor to VM could get hold off infrastructure without investing billions this could put VM's whole business under threat. Because what future investor would bother pumping in money if it were possible to be gifted cables, ducts and poles from BT?

[Media Boy UK]

Liberty Global to introduce Docsis 3.1 in 2017

Cable operator Liberty Global will launch its first services over Docsis 3.1 in 2017, the company announced at IBC in Amsterdam. It's not yet known which country will get the faster services first.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/lib...-2017--1162860

[Pierre]

The enemy of my enemies is my friend.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by Media Boy

Liberty Global to introduce Docsis 3.1 in 2017

Cable operator Liberty Global will launch its first services over Docsis 3.1 in 2017, the company announced at IBC in Amsterdam. It's not yet known which country will get the faster services first.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/lib...-2017--1162860

The ones that need it to compete. So not us.

[Media Boy UK]

Virgin Media receives regulatory approval to acquire UTV Ireland

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/m...land-1.2870076

[Horizon]

.... and the Liongate-Starz merger should complete soon which will give Malone the largest and controlling stake in it. I'll post here when confirmed.

http://www.denverite.com/colorado-bi...onsgate-21746/

---------- Post added at 22:53 ---------- Previous post was at 21:07 ----------

Following on from that, something which has been muted in the press over the last several months is a potential Malone buyout of CBS and Viacom, owner of Paramount Pictures. This article hints that the Starz-Lionsgate deal may be a used as a vechicle by Malone as a way to buy CBS/Viacom:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ck-undervalued

THe F1 deal should also complete soon, which will give Malone total control over F1 via his controlling stakes in Liberty Global and Discovery.

[Pierre]

Two differing points of view here:

http://seekingalpha.com/news/3225242...ty-global-deal

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tm...-idUSKBN13C1OJ

[Horizon]

.... I think in that Reuters article, Fries gave a very strong hint that he intends to buy a UK broadcaster. Perhaps ITV, which Liberty already own a bit of, or perhaps he might go for Ch4, if and when the government puts it up for sale.

On the main issue covered in the articles about a Liberty/Vodafone tie-up, I think it's less likely now. I think Malone was keen on the idea as long as he got his way and the merged entity was leveraged to the hilt and paid -1000% tax. But the first article hints that Vodafone are still keen on a deal, so perhaps it may be them that stalk Malone, not the other way around.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Media Boy

Liberty Global to introduce Docsis 3.1 in 2017

Cable operator Liberty Global will launch its first services over Docsis 3.1 in 2017, the company announced at IBC in Amsterdam. It's not yet known which country will get the faster services first.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/lib...-2017--1162860

Looks like they've been juggling some TV channels about in preparation for this recently:

Originally Posted by jj20x

Over the last month or so Frequency changes took place in the Ashford, Croydon, Gateshead, Hayes and TTA Knowsley DMC (Hayes_RHE) networks, to clear an extended frequency block for DOCSIS 3.1.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Horizon

.... I think in that Reuters article, Fries gave a very strong hint that he intends to buy a UK broadcaster. Perhaps ITV, which Liberty already own a bit of, or perhaps he might go for Ch4, if and when the government puts it up for sale.

On the main issue covered in the articles about a Liberty/Vodafone tie-up, I think it's less likely now. I think Malone was keen on the idea as long as he got his way and the merged entity was leveraged to the hilt and paid -1000% tax. But the first article hints that Vodafone are still keen on a deal, so perhaps it may be them that stalk Malone, not the other way around.

Always the possibility that Malone could undertake a break-up bid for ITV with the assets split between LGI, Discovery and Starz-Lionsgate.

[Kushan]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Looks like they've been juggling some TV channels about in preparation for this recently:

Interesting, I guess we'll soon start hearing about a new Modem/Hub for this?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Kushan

Interesting, I guess we'll soon start hearing about a new Modem/Hub for this?

Which TV boxes would be compatible with this standard?