Spainish media conglomerate Prisa has received a number of preliminary offers for its satellite TV business Digital Plus. According to the FT.com, “a person familiar with the process” put the…

Read more »

Hope springs eternal in music, and it seems, in the music industry as well. Jean Bernard Levy, the CEO of Vivendi (EPA: VIV) (which owns the biggest label Universal Music…

Read more »

Mobile content news from our sister site mocoNews.net: -- What’s Happening With Vivendi Games Mobile? Possible Sale Coming: What is going on with Vivendi Games Mobile, the mobile gaming unit…

Read more »

Members of The Allman Brothers Band have sued Universal Music-owned UMG Recordings for about $13 million, over royalties from compact discs sales and digital downloads services, reports Reuters. The lawsuit,…

Read more »

-- Universal: After relaunching HMV.com and setting up its still-in-beta social net GetCloser, HMV (LSE: HMV) e-commerce director Gideon Lask is leaving to be business development SVP at Universal Music…

Read more »

-- Johnston: Scotsman publisher Johnston Press is the latest to start selling overseas ads on its UK news sites. Mail Online, Guardian.co.uk, Times Online and Telegraph.co.uk are all chasing ads…

Read more »

Vivendi (EPA: VIV), the France-based media giant and parent of Universal Music Group, has reported its first half 2008 and Q208 earnings, and its revenues totaled €11.2 billion (£8.84 billion),…

Read more »

Pretty soon, everybody will be offering a subscription music service. Latest is BSkyB; it’s secured Universal’s Total Music repertoire (which includes Amy Winehouse) for a new launch that will allow…

Read more »

-- SonyBMG/UMG MP3: Digital music retailer 7digital will be taking DRM-free MP3 repertoire from SonyBMG and Universal “imminently”, we can reveal. The label got MP3s from EMI last summer and…

Read more »

Entertainment and telecom conglomerate Vivendi (EPA: VIV) said its Q1 EBITA dropped 5.6 percent to €1.203 billion ($1.8 billion) from €1.274 billion last year. Although not exactly an indication of…

Read more »

BT’s (NYSE: BT) living room IPTV platform is adding PictureBox, Universal Pictures’ premium on-demand movie subscription service, to its box. For £5 per month, customers get to pick from a…

Read more »

The European Commission has cleared the $18.9 billion merger of Activision (NSDQ: ATVI) and Vivendi’s (EPA: VIV) games unit on several anti-trust grounds. The EC began a routine investigation in…

Read more »

In which universe would an ISP launch a massively-multiplayer online game (MMPOG)? In the French universe. Neuf Cegetel last night unveiled Exalight - a futuristic PC racer that requires a…

Read more »

Vivendi’s (EPA: VIV) Universal Music CEO Lucian Grainge is reportedly aiming to develop better relations with mobile and TV companies by promoting former Polydor boss David Joseph to oversee the…

Read more »

If you thought Universal Music Group’s all-you-can-eat music access endeavors were just experiments, check digital SVP Rob Wells’ comments on a music panel at Mobile World Congress: “The start and…

Read more »

Media conglomerate Vivendi (EPA: VIV) has released preliminary Q407 data showing revenue of €6.0 billion ($8.9 billion), an 8.5 percent year-on-year increase over €5.5 billion ($8.17 billion). On a full-year…

Read more »

Vivendi (EPA: VIV) is in talks to acquire the remaining part of French telecom provider Neuf Cegetel it doesn’t own, according to a statement Neuf made to the Paris stock…

Read more »

Music companies want Europe to overhaul its music licensing systems to better cope with digital distribution - but the European Commission has no plans to do so any time soon,…

Read more »

Vivendi (EPA: VIV) SA and Activision (NSDQ: ATVI) announced plans for a merger valued at $18.9 billion that would bring together Guitar Hero, Spider-Man X-Men, and World of Warcraft, among…

Read more »

Vivendi, (EPA: VIV) which announced its strangely-named portal last week, has now announced that Zaoza will launch in January, and the site will be a provider of music, ringtones, games…

Read more »

Vivendi (EPA: VIV) will this week test a “content and services platform” website that, whilst secretive, could be a direct-to-consumer online TV outlet. “Zaoza”, “a major project”, will be “a…

Read more »

NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) International is shaking up its digital focus with a restructure that splits operations along two new lines (see release). - Digital assets: New recruit Kevin Obi…

Read more »

Update: Steve Jobs said at the iPhone Germany launch: “We think prices should be the same. We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store.” Reuters: “According to a…

Read more »

French media conglomerate Vivendi (EPA:VIV) posted H1 earnings of EUR 2.6 billion ($3.54 billion), 10.6 percent better than the same period last year, helped by music downloads and the wild…

Read more »