Weekly news round-up: Brexit's impact & Ericsson reverts to Red Bee

Brexit threatens UK broadcasting jobs 
The Commercial Broadcasters Association (CBA) has warned UK broadcasters that thousands of jobs could be at stake if the ‘hard’ Brexit agreement takes place, when the UK leave the EU. The availability of skilled employees based in the UK maybe in jeopardy. COBA Executive Director Adam Minns told the BBC, there is more than £500M a year invested in wages, overheads and technology. 

Ericsson reverts to Red Bee 
Ericsson, which acquired Red Bee Media in 2014, has branded its entire global Broadcast and Media Services division back to the original name and logo of the UK company. Broadcast reported the news that the business will continue to offer media management, playout, OTT, access services, content discovery, creative solutions, sports graphics and analysis solutions worldwide. CEO Steve Nyland said: ”Adopting this brand will enable us to strengthen our position as an independent and agile media services organisation.”

5G car trial success
Japanese mobile telco Docomo has partnered with car manufacturer Toyota, Ericsson and Intel Corporation to achieve a 5G connected car trial in Tokyo. The use of 5G technologies successfully achieved data speeds of up to 1Gbps for 4K-resolution video streaming whilst travelling at 30km per hour. According to Advanced Television the trial demonstrated 5G’s ability for ultra-high speed data rates, low latency and massive connectivity with the aim to standardise 5G technology for advanced services.  

Broadcom eyes Qualcomm
Wireless chipmaker Qualcom has been approached by Broadcom with an acquisition offer of $130BN, offering to pay $70 per Qualcom share. Tech Crunch reported the offer represents a 28% premium over the closing price of stock at the start on November 2017. According to CNBC Qualcom shares are likely to rise even if the offer is declined with its expansion last year adding chips for cars to its brand as well as chips created for the Apple iphones.  

Fox breaches Ofcom rules
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom found Fox News to have breached its rules on due impartiality airing episodes of Hannity and Tucker Carlson Tonight in the UK before the US news channel pulled out of the UK market. Broadband TV News reported the programmes featured coverage on President Trump’s order to restrict travel from seven Muslin countries and accusatory statements of British politicians in the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack. 

Sky threatens to shut down Sky News
According to the Financial Times, Sky News could be shut down if regulators block the proposed takeover by Fox. Sky told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that the regulator should not assume “the continued provision” of Sky News.

AMC seeks IPO for cinemas
AMC has confirmed it will list on the stock market its Odeon Cinemas Group in 2018 to 2019. The IPO would go on the London Stock Exchange between July of 2018 and April of 2019 for 25% to 33% of the European subsidiary – which includes Nordic Cinema Group (NCG). A stock market listing would raise hundreds of millions of pounds to deliver or return cash to shareholders. Odeon rival Vue is also believed to be preparing for an IPO, according to Celluloid Junkie.

Twitter to launch TV programme
The new video offering by social media giant Twitter will launch three seven-minute segments which will feature discussion around trending stories, guest interviews and games. As reported by TVB Europe, the videos will stream every Thursday from Twitter’s London HQ at 5pm.

Discovery moves to the cloud
The Discovery Channel has completed the transition of its US network to a public cloud service. Broadcast Bridge reported the news which has transformed its playout operations and given scalability and flexibility to the technical challenges. Discovery Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy and Architecture Brinton Miller said: ”The possibilities of this solution are endless”.