Sydney—Village Roadshow Ltd. (VRL) has disclosed it paid Amalgamated Holdings A$129 million (US$112.6 million) for its 50% stake in Roadshow Distributors to take full control of the film, home entertainment, television and pay TV distributor. The company is seeking shareholder approval to borrow up to A$125 million (US$109.1 million) to refinance Roadshow’s debt of A$50 million (US$43.6 million) and to repay part of VRL’s bank facility. VRL told shareholders the fully-owned Roadshow … [Read more...] about Village Roadshow shells out A$129 million for balance of Roadshow Distributors
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Malaysian authorities continue crackdown on pirates
Hong Kong / Johor – Malaysian police, assisted by the Malaysian Federation Against Copyright Theft (MFACT), representative of the Motion Pictures Association (MPA) in Malaysia, have closed down the ninth pirate DVD operation, this one in a palm oil plantation in Kluang, Johor. Authorities seized 6,200 copies of pirated DVDs, 3000 kg of raw material for optical discs (polycarbonate) and two DVD replicating machines capable of producing more than 7 million pirated discs annually that were … [Read more...] about Malaysian authorities continue crackdown on pirates
Asia Media Festival set to make a bigger splash in 2007
Singapore – The Asia Media Festival 2007 (AMF 2007), the regional business platform for the media industry to be held Nov. 14 – Dec. 4 in Singapore, is set to grow this year with a marked increase in participation and the debut of several new events. Hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore and organized by Reed Exhibitions in collaboration with key industry partners, AMF 2007 is expecting 5,400 trade participants, 16% up on 2006. Among the new events will be the Apollo … [Read more...] about Asia Media Festival set to make a bigger splash in 2007
Microsoft takes a stake in Facebook – now what?
Microsoft’s purchase of a 1.6% stake in social networking site Facebook for $US 240 million has been welcomed by advertisers in Asia and hailed by some analysts as a landmark deal for Microsoft. As part of the deal, Microsoft, Facebook’s advertising partner in the US, becomes the exclusive advertising platform for Facebook worldwide. “We believe it will make advertising on Facebook more available to advertisers,” said Pauline Chu, General Manager, Carat Media Services … [Read more...] about Microsoft takes a stake in Facebook – now what?
Global consumers go mobile
The consumer electronics industry will surpass $US600 billion in worldwide revenues this year as consumers open their wallets to buy nearly 1 billion mobile phones, almost 200 million TV sets and more than 100 million computers. That’s according to the Consumer Electronics Association's International CE Ownership and Market Potential report, conducted with market researcher GfK. “Mobile phones, televisions and personal computers currently account for more than half of global CE … [Read more...] about Global consumers go mobile
Online advertising booming in China
Hong Kong – The online display advertising market in China jumped by 14% in the third quarter of 2007, reaching RMB 2.6 billion ($US348 million), with total online ad revenues for the year to date topping $885 million. That’s according to the latest AdRelevance report from Nielsen Online, which tracks and analyses online advertising, industry trends, advertiser activities and campaigns. The online display ad market was worth $228 million in the first quarter and $308.2 million in the … [Read more...] about Online advertising booming in China