22-26 June: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Technicolor files for Chapter 15 in the United States

Technicolor has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy relief in a US court, with the company pointing to significant financial challenges brought about due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement of a resturcturing comes just days after the company opted to cease trading due to ongoing negotiations with lenders.

Chapter 15 allows companies to protect US assets during a restructure in its home country - in this case, France.

“Compounding matters, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused theatrical releases to be put on hold and production timelines to be pushed back, significantly depressing Technicolor’s revenue from production services,” the company said in its filing, according to a report on TVBEurope.

Earlier this week, Technicolor announced an agreement in principle with lenders which will provide €420 million in new financing, which will provide ”a framework for long-term sustainability for the company’s businesses, employees, customers and suppliers, and offers its current shareholders an opportunity to participate in the company’s recovery.”

Nent launches new Finnish OTT

Nent Group has partnered with Finnish telco Elisa Viihde to launch a new streaming service in Finland. 

Elisa Viihde Viaplay is set to go live on 30 June offering a mixture of local content and international options including Hollywood films and series, and kids’ content.

Both Nent and Elisa already offer OTTs - Viaplay and Viihde Aitio respectively - and these services will continue to operate until an unspecified date in Q4 2020. 

Anders Jensen, NENT Group president and CEO, commented: “We continue to break new ground in streaming with the most innovative partnerships in the market. Elisa Viihde Viaplay will bring together the Nordic region’s leading streaming company and a Finnish pioneer in telecoms and digital services to take streaming to the next level in Finland.

Sony/Panasonic JV takes Samsung to court over OLED patents

A joint venture between Sony and Panasonic has launched legal action against Samsung over alleged breach of OLED technology patents.

The Japanese-based JV - called Joled - is suing Samsung Electronics and its subsidiaries in the US and German courts claiming the Korean vendor breached its intellectual property in its Galaxy range of smartphones.

Joled is accusing Samsung’s subsidiaries of selling its Galaxy smartphone brand in the US and Germany without a license for JOLED technology used in the phones, according to two seperate filings.

JOLED was formed in 2015 from the merger of the OLED operations of Panasonic and Sony. It holds, or has applied for, over 4,000 patents worldwide relation to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels.

 

Topics