euro news_news 09/05/2014 18:44 Page 1
Viacom buys
Channel 5
iacom and Northern
& Shell Media Group
have confirmed the
acquisition of UK
commercial PSB Channel 5
by Viacom International
Media Networks (VIMN) for
£450m (€548m).
The transaction brings
Viacom one of British television’s
biggest brands, and the only
commercial public service
broadcaster consistently to grow
viewership share in recent years.
Channel 5’s diverse
programming slate is viewed by
more than 80% of the UK
population each month, benefits
from the programming grid
prominence associated with its
public service broadcaster status,
and will complement Viacom’s
popular pay TV
networks,
which
connect
with
focused and
valuable
audiences.
“The acquisition of Channel 5
accelerates Viacom’s strategy in
the UK, one of the world’s most
important and valuable media
V
markets,” said Viacom president
and CEO Philippe Dauman
(right). “Channel 5’s momentum
is indisputable, with impactful
programming, increasing
popularity and a growing digital
platform. Channel 5’s
management and employees
have done an outstanding job
building their brand and we are
pleased to welcome them to our
team. Viacom’s global resources,
technology and expertise will
help Channel 5 develop even
more compelling programming
and provide content to
consumers in exciting new ways.
In addition, we will introduce
our popular content to new UK
audiences and create a
comprehensive offering for our
commercial partners on-air and
on-line,” he advised.
“This deal will dramatically
increase Viacom’s investment in
content produced in the UK,
which has a widely admired
public service broadcasting
culture and a globally influential
production sector. We look
forward to partnering with local
producers to introduce more UKcreated content to global
audiences, and will continue to
explore opportunities in the UK,
both in the free-to-air and pay
television markets,” he
concluded.
Paul Dunthorne, COO of
Channel 5, said that since
Northern & Shell's acquisition of
Channel 5 in
2010, the
financial and
operating
performance of
the business
had been
transformed
with improved
audiences and
content offering.
“The
combination of
Channel 5 with
Viacom's global
resources,
technology and
expertise adds further to the
momentum of the business and
offers numerous exciting
opportunities for the channel's
future.”
The acquisition builds on
Viacom’s long and successful
track record of investment in the
UK. The company launched MTV
in the market in 1987, followed
by Nickelodeon in 1993 and
Comedy Central in 1995, growing
to more than 20 branded TV
networks currently on air,
including BET, VIVA and VH1.
Under the terms of the
agreement, Viacom will acquire
Entropic, Conax SoC
STB integration
operator content.
Entropic’s ARM-based
advanced STB SoC solutions
are designed for hybrid
broadcast/IP pay-TV networks
to provide security, best-inclass integration, features,
and ecosystem support
required by leading global
Pay-TV operators. By
embedding the Conax
conditional access core into
its silicon hardware, Entropic
adds an additional layer of
content security for the
protection of satellite, cable,
terrestrial, IP and over-the-
top (OTT) video networks.
“We believe the most
effective mechanism for
securing operator revenue
while maintaining subscriber
convenience is using state of
the art Conax smart card
technology paired with
advanced chipsets, like those
from Entropic, to ensure
smart cards can be used only
with secure devices,” said
Hans Kwaaitaal, VP, strategic
partner relations, at digital
video content distribution
solutions provider Conax. “In
working with Entropic, we are
Connected home
semiconductor solutions
specialist Entropic has
completed the integration
of the Conax conditional
access core module into its
advanced line of
multimedia set-top box
(STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC)
products. By incorporating
the Conax technology into
its SoCs, Entropic can help
prevent the illegal
redistribution of premium
6 EUROMEDIA
all brands and assets of Channel
5, including Demand 5, Channel
5’s video-on-demand service,
which is offered on more viewing
platforms than any other
commercial broadcaster in the
UK, and delivered over 23m
views in
January 2014.
The
purchase price
of the
acquisition will
be financed by
Viacom’s
existing cash
balances and
the transaction
is expected to
be accretive
immediately
after closing.
The
transaction is
subject to customary regulatory
approvals. The purchase price is
far less than the £700m sought
by Northern & Shell's owner
Richard Desmond, who bought
Channel 5 from Bertelsmann
AG’s RTL Group in 2010 for
£103.5m. Desmond had also
considered an IPO.
Other bidders were
understood to have included
Discovery Communications in a
joint bid with pay-TV operator
BSkyB, Saban Capital and
Scripps Networks Interactive,
telco BT and Comcast/NBCUniversal.
able to offer today’s global
operators new DVB set-top
box security solutions that
will prevent the illegal
viewing of their premium
content.”
“Entropic is focused on
upholding the highest levels
of security for any set-top
device, ensuring content
protection is as robust as
possible and providing the
highest quality and ͕