Comcast halts Disney takeover bid
Comcast withdrew its $66 billion bid to acquire The Walt Disney Co.
The deal would have brought Comcast’s significant sports video production and team ownership together with ABC Sports and ESPN.
Reports indicate Disney’s board of directors rebuffed the takeover because Comcast’s offer fell short of expectations by some $6 billion.
Victory Sports inks deals with three cable systems Victory Sports, the exclusive cable and satellite provider of Minnesota Twins baseball, has completed long-term agreements to carry Victory Sports programming on the RC Technologies, Marble Cable Television and Barnesville Cable Television cable systems.
Victory Sports One is the cable and satellite television home for Minnesota Twins Baseball, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Men's basketball and football games, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State University hockey and football games, and regional high school basketball and hockey games.
For more information, please visit: www.victorysports.com.
New ALL SPORTS network to reach 40 million U.S. households
OBN Holdings, parent company of the Omni Broadcasting Network, has launched the All Sports Television Network (ALL SPORTS), which is the only national sports network currently available on broadcast television. ALL SPORTS will reach about 40 million households throughout the United States.
The network will feature select coverage of national and international sporting events including football, baseball, basketball, track and field, tennis, softball, soccer, swimming, wrestling, volleyball and Australian Rules football.
For more information, please visit: www.obnholdings.com/All%20Sports%20Release%203-31-04.pdf.
FOX Sports Marketing names Markgraf executive vice president
Eric Markgraf, formerly senior vice president, marketing, FOX Sports Marketing Group, has been promoted to executive vice president, succeeding Neal Tiles as the department’s head. Markgraf will report to David Hill, chairman, FOX Sports Television Group and Bob Thompson, president, FOX Sports Networks.
Orange France selects Alcatel for integrated end-to-end video streaming
Alcatel has delivered an integrated end-to-end solution to Orange France, a French mobile operator. The operator will launch the solution on its existing GSM/GPRS network, and its new Orange World Video service, the first mobile video service in France.
Alcatel’s video streaming solution already allows Orange France to provide GPRS subscribers with access to video trailers, video clips or live events such as sports.
For more information, please visit: www.alcatel.com.
