Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Netflix and Amazon profited £1.1bn from the UK
Netflix is estimated to have made £693 million in revenues from its 10m UK subscribers last year, while Amazon made £400m from an estimated 7.7m subscribers to its Prime Video service, according to research from Ofcom. According to the BBC, without a major British rival viewers are turning to the Silicon Valley giants. ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall said that UK broadcasters are faced with the last chance to develop a competitor. 

Champions League final on PS4 with BT
BT Sport is extending its availability by launching a new app on PlayStation 4 (PS4) and is kicking off proceedings in time for the UEFA Champions League Final on Saturday. Rapid TV News reported the app is available on PS4 consoles showing the Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur game free to existing BT Sport customers and complements the offering via btsport.com, the BT Sport YouTube page, the BT Sport app for small and large devices, and on Virgin.

Zuckerberg faces leadership vote
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been called to step down as chairman and focus on running the company. However, according to the BBC, Zuckerberg is “very unlikely” to lose the vote because he has 60% of the voting power. Former Facebook chief of security Alex Stamos and shareholder Trillium Asset Management are in favour of this change saying it is a difficult but important move for the company.    

Huawei challenges US defence bill 
China’s Huawei Technologies has filed a legal motion seeking to declare a US defence law unconstitutional, in the telecom equipment maker’s latest bid to fight sanctions from Washington that threaten to push it out of global markets. Reuters reported Huawei has repeatedly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services.

Netflix joins Bafta talent scheme
Netflix is partnering with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) on the UK organisation’s Breakthrough Brits talent scheme. C21 Media reported Netflix will be the main supporting partner for the Breakthrough Brits which was launched in 2013 to showcase and support creative talent across film, games and TV. Bafta said the partnership with Netflix would help facilitate the global expansion of the initiative, uncovering talent in territories around the world from the US to India.

Mediaset acquires 9.6% stake in ProSiebenSat.1
Italian media company Mediaset has acquired a 9.6% stake in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1. According to Broadband TV News, the move has been driven because Mediaset wants to strengthen its relationship with ProSiebenSat.1. The financial details have not been disclosed and the deal has been described as “friendly” and ”aimed at creating value with an increasingly international outlook.”

HTC joins Windows for new Viveport headset
HTC’s Viveport Infinity virtual reality (VR) subscription service will be coming to Windows Mixed Reality (MR) headsets next month. VR headsets powered by Microsoft’s platform will have access to an unlimited number of VR games and apps for a monthly fee of $12.99. Variety reported that in addition to its Viveport Infinity service, HTC is also bringing its a la carte Viveport VR store to headsets supported by Windows Mixed Reality. These include headsets manufactured by Acer, HP, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Samsung.

Topics