Mansha Daswani

Digital TV Research forecasts 40 million SVOD subscribers in Eastern Europe by 2026, up from 15 million at the end of last year.

A new report by the U.K.'s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) has concluded that the BBC will have to continue to rely on the TV license fee, in part because the government has "failed to put in place the necessary broadband infrastructure that would facilitate other funding mechanisms."

The BBC has unveiled plans for what it is calling its "biggest transformation in decades" as it shifts program spending and much of BBC News across the U.K., outside of London.

While year-on-year revenues were down 9.5 percent, RTL Group reported a rebound in television advertising in the second half of 2020.

The BBC has set out its strategy for boosting its commercial income, including moving BBC Children's Production and BBC Global News into BBC Studios.

Total external revenues at ITV fell by 16 percent to £2.8 billion ($3.9 billion) in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with ad revenues down 11 percent and ITV Studios revenues falling 25 percent.

Fourth-quarter revenues at ProSiebenSat.1 Group were up 11 percent to €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion), including a 3 percent gain in entertainment ad revenues.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will integrate Digital UK, which runs the Freeview TV digital terrestrial service, with Freesat, the U.K.'s subscription-free satellite television service.

Ad spend in the U.K. will recover faster than other key international markets this year, according to the new Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report.

Gillad Osterer's SEO Entertainment, which specializes in light entertainment, documentaries and comedies, will become part of LEONINE Studios effective January 1, 2021.