15-19 June: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Emmy’s retool Awards submissions

The Primetime Emmy awards are set to go ahead in September, but the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) has announced an overhaul of the submission process.

The new format will see the Awards shortlists feature eight nominations in total, regardless of the number of submissions. 

However, as the number of submissions for 2020 has increased across the board by 15 per cent, the Academy has also restructured how many nominees are selected for other awards.

They explained: ‘’The number of nominees per category will now be based on the number of submissions in each category.’’

Meanwhile, the TV Academy also announced that the traditional ceremonies for the 2020 Creative Arts Emmys, will be replaced by a virtual event spanning several nights in September.

The event was originally scheduled to take place in dual ceremonies on September 12 and 13.

Quibi eyes launch on Roku, Amazon

Short-form streaming platform Quibi is locked in talks with Amazon and Roku to launch a native app for their connected TV platforms.

Variety reports that the OTT, which launched last month for mobile, has stepped up negotiations with Amazon to launch a Quibi app on its Fire TV platform.

The report claims talks with Roku are still “in the early stages” with outstanding issues including the revenue sharing model proposed by Quibi.

WTO rules in favour of Qatar in Saudi piracy dispute

Saudi Arabia broke World Trade Organization’s intellectual-property rules by failing to crack down on pirate broadcaster BeoutQ, the Geneva-based trade body ruled this week. 

Qatar had brought the case against Saudi-based satellite-TV broadcaster and streaming service BeoutQ, which retransmitted TV content produced by the Qatari-based sports broadcaster BeIN Media Group. 

“Saudi Arabia has not provided for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied to BeoutQ,” the WTO said. 

Telia agrees to offload Turkcell stake

Swedish telecoms company Telia has agreed to sell its 47.1% stake in Turkcell Holding to state owned entity Turkey Wealth Fund.

The deal, which is worth $530 million, is part of a long-running strategy that has seen Telia focus on its core Nordic markets.

Telia, which last year completed the acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting for $957m, has already offloaded a significant share in the Turkish telecoms company when it divested of its 14% direct ownership in 2017. Since then, it has maintained a 47.1% in Turkcell Holding, which owns 51.0 percent in the listed company Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri.

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