All articles by Jennifer Green – Page 52
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Telefonica responds to Villalonga controversy
Spain's Telefonica responded this week to reports published in Spanish daily El Mundo that president Juan Villalonga benefited from insider information in the purchase of Telefonica stock options in 1998.The report alleged that Villalonga had already initiated merger talks with both British Telecom and WorldCom-MCI prior to his buying 264,224 ...
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Pizza King reigns at Spain's Cine Jove
Danish director Ole Christian Madsen last week walked away with the top prize at Spain's Cinema Jove International Film Festival, the Luna de Valencia (Valencian Moon), for his film Pizza King. Made on a budget of $800,000, Pizza premiered in Denmark to a strong audience turnout after distribution problems delayed ...
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Producers upbeat about first Spanish-US Forum
The first annual Ibero-American Co-production Forum closed Thursday in Madrid with a sense of optimism about the ramifications of Forum host Telefonica Media's planned $100m production investment in Ibero-American cinema. General reactions to the three-day Forum, which was co-hosted by the Spanish Producers' Federation (FAPAE), were positive. Producers from across ...
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Multichoice, Telefonica team for African launch
African broadcaster Multichoice Africa, satellite operator Eutelsat and Telefonica de Espana have penned an agreement to launch a new digital satellite television platform to serve Sub-Saharan Africa.Called the first of its kind for the region, the new platform will have capacity for some 40 channels which can be received on ...
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Telefonica's Villalonga under investigation
Telefonica president Juan Villalonga has found himself at the centre of yet another media storm after a report in Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo that he benefited from insider information in the purchase of Telefonica stock options in 1998.According to El Mundo, Villalonga bought 264,224 stock options in the company ...
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Media Park mulls float in second half of year
Barcelona-based content packager Media Park is studying the possibility of launching an initial public offer on at least a part of its shares.In a press statement, the group said that details and timing of the possible flotation are yet to be decided, dependent on Spain's market performance and the "global ...
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Telefonica's Nieto likely to quit Antena 3 role
Juan Jose Nieto, CEO of Spanish broadcaster Antena 3, admitted last Thursday during a shareholders' meeting that he might resign from his post in order to focus on his dual position as CEO of Telefonica Media and new member of Telefonica's powerful Executive Committee.Sources at the broadcaster suggested that Nieto's ...
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Spanish broadcasters team up for Fiction Factory
Four heavyweight Spanish television platforms - pay outlets Via Digital and Quiero TV and free-to-air broadcasters Antena 3 and Telecinco - are joining forces to create thematic channel The Fiction Factory (FDF) dedicated to Spanish and US fiction series.FDF will launch on both Quiero and Via Digital beginning next month ...
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Prisa appoints US, Internet chiefs on eve of float
On the eve of its public offering, Spanish media empire Grupo Prisa has announced two key appointments.Jaime Polanco Soutullo has been appointed general director of Prisa for North America, a strategic post for further developing Prisa's activities in the US Spanish-speaking market. Polanco Soutullo will be headquartered in New York ...
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Terra shareholders approve capital increase
Shareholders of Telefonica Internet subsidiary Terra approved a Euros761m amplification of capital on Thursday (June 8) which will allow the company to complete its proposed 100% buy-out of US portal Lycos. The new company, Terra Lycos, will have corporate centres in Barcelona, Boston and Miami."With Lycos, we are creating a ...
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Gil to sing with Hamilton in Lolafilms' Off Key
Spanish actress Ariadna Gil and Italy's Anna Galiena and Claudia Gerini have joined the cast of English-language comedy Off Key from Spanish production house Lolafilms.The film stars Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton and Danny Aiello as three opera stars whose love-hate relationship comes to a head during an explosive weekend together ...
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Telefonica, Prisa reportedly in 'net merger talks
Putting a new spin on old rumours of merger talks between Telefonica-backed digital satellite TV platform Via Digital and Grupo Prisa's Canal Satelite Digital (CSD), Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the two groups are negotiating the creation of a joint Internet and TV venture which could result in the ...
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Canal Satelite racks up 900,000 subscribers
Spain's Grupo Prisa-backed digital satellite TV platform Canal Satelite Digital (CSD) has reported that it has reached the 900,000 mark in subscribers. The platform has reported a steady growth of about 100,000 new subscribers every six months since June of 1998.CSD launched a little over three years ago in January ...
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Telefonica to acquire Bertelsmann's mediaWays
Telefonica added another acquisition to its growing European portfolio this week with the planned 100% buy-out of mediaWays, an Internet subsidiary of German media group Bertelsmann. MediaWays will be managed by Telefonica subsidiary Telefonica Data.The acquisition, valued at $1.6bn (PTS282,000m), forms part of a strategic relationship arising between two of ...
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Spanish gov't extends broadcast licence deadline
Spain's government has extended the application period for new radio and TV licences until July 3, reportedly in an attempt to motivate competitors to form joint consortia.The original filing period for the new five-year licences, due to be awarded by November 30, ended Friday, June 2. The entry of two ...
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Mana scores at emerging Malaga fest
Actress Laura Mana was the big winner at the increasingly high-profile Spanish Film Festival of Malaga on Saturday night, walking away with the best film award for her directorial debut Sexo Por Compasion.The film is a magic surrealist tale, also written by Mana, about a woman whose sexual favours transform ...
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Telefonica buys 25% of producer Media Park
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica has acquired a 25% stake in Barcelona-based content producer and broker Media Park in a transaction worth a reported $60m (pts10,500m). The shares will be managed by Telefonica subsidiary Telefonica Media. Local reports suggest that Telefonica paid as much as five times what Media Park shares ...
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Via Digital makes production move with Querejeta
Spanish digital satellite platform Via Digital has made its definitive entrance into the domestic production sector with the signing of a new accord with veteran producer Elias Querejeta.Under the terms of the deal, Via will co-produce and broadcast forthcoming feature films, TV series and documentaries from Querejeta's self-named, Madrid-based production ...
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Ferrari replaces Cabanillas at RTVE
Javier Gonzalez Ferrari has been appointed general director of Spain's public television broadcaster Radio Television Espanola (RTVE), replacing outgoing head Pio Cabanillas, who was given the post as spokesperson for the recently re-elected national government.Ferrari takes on a television network steeped in debt as well as an on-going controversy concerning ...
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Prisa to go ahead with float in June
Spanish media empire Grupo Prisa is pushing ahead with flotation plans and will offer up to 20% of its shares on June 12, according to reports in Prisa-owned financial newspaper Cinco Dias. Sources at the Group declined to comment while the operation awaits approval from the national market commission (CNMV). ...