30 Mar - 5 Apr: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

T-Mobile and Sprint officially complete $26 billion merger
Telco giants T-Mobile and Sprint have officially completed its $26 billion merger, Tech crunch has reported.

The newly combined parent company is called T-Mobile and Sprint will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

It was also announced that T-mobile chief executive will step down earlier than anticipated. Mike Sievert has been appointed CEO, effective immediately.

Canal+ refuses to pay rights for Ligue 1
French pay-TV operator Canal+ is in a battle with the Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP) after refusing to pay its next instalment of rights to air Ligue 1 football matches, L’Équipe reported.

The company is due to pay a further €110 million on 5 April for its share of rights.

Canal+ CEO reportedly wrote to the LFP to argue that paying future instalments would not be conceivable, given the suspension of the Ligue 1 championship matches during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sony delays 2020 releases to 2021
Sony Pictures has pushed nearly all of its 2020 releases to next year amid the coronavirus crisis, CNBC reported.

The company announced Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Uncharted and Peter Rabbit 2 will now all debut across theatres in 2021, despite originally being anticipated as summer releases. Theatres have closed doors across the globe due to lockdown conditions.

Kevin Hart’s Fatherhood is the only 2020 release, initially set to release in January 2021 but now moved forward to October 2020.

AMC Selekt debuts in Spain
Orange Spain is the first to launch the AMC Selekt VOD service to its TV platform, Digital TV Europe reported.

Orange TV subscribers will be able to access more than 5000 programmes throughout the year covering a wide variety of genres including films, series, documentaries, lifestyle programmes, children’s content and music.

The on-demand streaming service is already available on the Orange TV platform also plans to launch in other non-US regions at a later date.

MGM Studios launches SVOD in South Africa
MGM has announced its launch of a new SVOD service with Vodacom South Africa, C21 Media reported.

The service will be available as part of Vodacom’s Video Play Premium service, but also available as a standalone service with a Micro Pass subscription.

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