Raymond van der Vliet has left VodafoneZiggo after more than eight years overseeing the Dutch operator’s content and partnership activities.

Van der Vliet, most recently Director Content & Partnerships, left the company last week after deciding during the summer to resign. He was responsible for the television, video and audio content from the Liberty Global operator.

In a statement posted on Linkedin, Van der Vliet said the decision followed a period in which “positive energy keeps flowing away and negative energy keeps growing”, adding that the situation had begun to put pressure on his working life and health.

He described his departure as a difficult decision because of the relationships he had developed with his team, colleagues and content partners.

Van der Vliet has played a significant role in the evolution of Ziggo from a traditional cable television operator towards an aggregator of linear channels and streaming services.

During his tenure, services including Netflix, NPO, discovery+, SkyShowtime, Hayu and Cinetree were integrated into the Ziggo platform. He previously described the operator’s strategy as providing a single environment through which customers could find content from an increasingly fragmented range of providers.

Before joining VodafoneZiggo, Van der Vliet held positions with National Geographic, Fox Sports and Eredivisie Media & Marketing. He has worked in the Dutch and international media industry for more than 25 years.

Serbia’s communications regulator RATEL has selected state-owned transmission operator Emisiona tehnika i veze (ETV) to operate three national digital terrestrial television multiplexes in the 470–694 MHz band.

The decision follows a public bidding process held on September 22, in which ETV was the only qualified bidder. At its meeting on October 1, the RATEL Council selected the company for MUX1, MUX2 and MUX5.

The licences cover the use of spectrum between 470 and 694 MHz across Serbia for digital terrestrial television. ETV must now pay the spectrum usage fees established through the tender, together with the fees for issuing the individual licences, before RATEL formally assigns each multiplex.

ETV already operates Serbia’s terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure, providing digital television and radio transmission services from a nationwide network of transmission sites.

Serbia completed its original transition from analogue to DVB-T2 terrestrial television in June 2015, ahead of the ITU’s analogue switch-off deadline. The network has subsequently continued to use DVB-T2, making Serbia an early adopter of the second-generation terrestrial standard.

The latest licensing process concerns the continued use of the sub-700 MHz spectrum for terrestrial television rather than a new transition to DVB-T2. The three multiplex awards also come as European broadcasters and regulators debate the longer-term future of the 470–694 MHz UHF band, which remains central to terrestrial television distribution across much of Europe.

The company created from the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery will be known as Skydance, with David Ellison opting to retain the name of the production company he founded two decades ago.

The change will take effect when Paramount Skydance completes its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, currently scheduled for October 6. The company will formally become Skydance Corporation, while its Class B shares will transfer from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.

The Paramount and Warner Bros names will remain as studio and operating brands beneath the new corporate identity, alongside businesses including CBS, CNN, HBO, MTV and Discovery. The enlarged group will also bring together the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services.

“As we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic,” Ellison told employees. He said adopting Skydance as the corporate name would give the combined business an identity of its own without diminishing the Paramount or Warner Bros brands.

The transaction creates one of the world’s largest entertainment groups, combining franchises including Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, DC, Yellowstone, Mission: Impossible and Top Gun, as well as the Nickelodeon portfolio.

Ellison will remain chairman and CEO, working alongside newly appointed co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. The former Mattel chief will oversee day-to-day operations and the integration of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, while Ellison retains responsibility for strategy, creative and technology.

The adoption of Skydance also marks the latest change in corporate identity for the businesses involved. WarnerMedia became Warner Bros Discovery following its 2022 merger with Discovery, while Paramount Global became Paramount Skydance after Ellison’s Skydance completed its acquisition of the company. From October 6, the parent company will simply be Skydance.

Ofcom says nearly 3.5 million customers have used the One Touch Switch process to change their landline or broadband provider since its introduction two years ago, as the regulator steps up efforts to encourage consumers to shop around.

The regulator says its analysis suggests many customers buying broadband, landline and pay-TV from the same provider could save more than £100 a year by switching once their minimum contract has expired.

The finding is particularly relevant to the UK’s bundled communications market. Ofcom says one in three triple-play customers was out of contract last year, leaving a significant pool of subscribers potentially paying more than necessary.

One Touch Switch allows customers moving between broadband or landline providers to deal only with their new supplier, which manages the transfer from the existing provider. More than 300 providers participate in the scheme, which has now been used by almost 3.5 million customers.

The figures come as operators increasingly use bundled connectivity and entertainment offers to attract and retain households. Vodafone recently launched Vodafone TV alongside its broadband and mobile services, while BT is preparing to launch its revamped BT TV proposition on October 15.

Ofcom’s figures also highlight continuing affordability pressures. Four per cent of telecoms customers missed a payment during the latest quarter, while 12% said they had changed a communications service to manage costs. Seven per cent had cancelled a service.

The regulator has launched a new Consumer Hub bringing together information on switching, contracts, complaints and tools for comparing broadband and mobile availability.

“Our advice to everyone with a broadband, mobile, pay-TV or landline contract is to check whether you’re in or out of contract, compare the offers out there, and if right for you then switch and save,” said Natalie Black, Ofcom’s Group Director, Infrastructure and Connectivity.

The push potentially increases pressure on established broadband and pay-TV operators to retain customers as they reach the end of their minimum contract periods, particularly as competition increasingly centres on converged broadband, mobile and entertainment bundles.

France Télévisions says its franceinfo YouTube channel recorded 110 million views during September, eight times the level achieved a year earlier.

The public broadcaster says franceinfo is now the leading French news destination on YouTube, ahead of channels operated by TF1, M6, RTL, BFMTV and Le Parisien.

The channel reached 12.2 million unique viewers during September, compared with 4.9 million across the January to June period, while daily viewing peaked at 5.4 million views.

Franceinfo has also passed one million YouTube subscribers, adding more than 50,000 during September alone.

Traditional television news brands are generating much of the online consumption. France Télévisions says its 8pm news accounted for 23.2 million views, followed by the 1pm bulletin with 13.2 million.

Programming originating from the franceinfo television channel, which moved to channel 16 on French DTT, is also contributing to the growth. Le Fil info generated 7.9 million views and L’info s’éclaire 3.9 million.

France Télévisions attributes the increase to a “streaming-first” strategy that is adapting material produced across its news operations for digital distribution.

The group says the figures support its strategy of extending public service news beyond its own linear and streaming platforms and onto third-party services used by younger and increasingly digital audiences.

The two seasons of Percy Jackson arrived on Netflix globally from October 4 for a limited three-month period.

The series remains associated with Disney+, making the move a notable example of Disney using a rival global streaming platform to extend the reach of one of its own streaming originals.

Disney is also licensing all five existing Ice Age films to Netflix globally for three months. Their arrival comes ahead of the theatrical release of the next instalment, Ice Age: Boiling Point, providing Disney with an additional promotional platform for the franchise.

The agreement goes beyond those two franchises. Disney-owned ABC series Will Trent is among the television titles being licensed, while Felicity, produced by Disney’s Touchstone Television, is also included.

A further selection of Disney and Pixar films will begin appearing on Netflix in early 2027. Titles include Pixar’s Soul and Elio, together with Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Raya and the Last Dragon. Availability and launch dates will differ between territories.

The deal does not represent a wider retreat from Disney+ exclusivity. Disney says the majority of its branded content will remain exclusive to its own streaming services and television channels. Instead, the short licensing windows give Disney an opportunity to monetise library content and potentially introduce franchises to Netflix’s much larger global audience.

It also reflects the broader return of content licensing between streaming rivals. Netflix has increasingly supplemented its originals with programming from competing media groups, while the major studios have become more willing to generate licensing revenue from titles that were previously kept primarily within their own streaming ecosystems.

The three-month Percy Jackson window is particularly interesting: rather than simply licensing an older catalogue series, it is allowing Netflix to carry the first two seasons of a programme developed as a flagship Disney+ original.

BT Group has acquired TalkTalk’s consumer and wholesale businesses out of administration in a deal designed to maintain services to 2.5 million customers, including connections supporting critical public services.

BT has acquired TalkTalk Telecommunications Limited and wholesale business PlatformX Communications (PXC) on a debt-free basis after a prolonged attempt to find buyers failed. BT estimates the total cash impact in its 2027 financial year at around £400 million, including the consideration, administration and transaction costs and trading losses.

TalkTalk has around 1.5 million retail customers, with a further one million wholesale customers served through PXC. Its connections include services supporting health and emergency services, defence, education, transport, banking and government.

TalkTalk generated revenues of around £1.2 billion over the past 12 months but was loss-making. BT says it intends initially to stabilise the businesses before integrating them and realising synergies.

“This is a genuinely unprecedented situation, where millions of citizens and businesses were at risk if TalkTalk had collapsed,” said BT Group Chief Executive Allison Kirkby.

“Our immediate priority is to stabilise the business and provide a safety net for the households and businesses who rely on TalkTalk.”

However, the acquisition will face an expedited regulatory examination. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy has issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice, allowing the government to consider the wider public-interest implications alongside the competition issues examined by the Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA has been asked to report by October 19.

Nandy said the potential failure of TalkTalk presented “a genuine risk to life and public services”, citing hospitals, schools, emergency care and services used by vulnerable customers.

BT welcomed the intervention, saying it would allow a faster regulatory review while taking account of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the acquisition. BT and TalkTalk will continue to operate separately and compete while the review is under way.

Ofcom has meanwhile sought to reassure TalkTalk subscribers that landline, broadband and pay-TV services should continue as normal during the transition and afterwards. The regulator said it would monitor the process to ensure consumers were protected.

BT has appointed former Openreach chief executive Clive Selley to lead the stabilisation of TalkTalk and planning for its integration.

The acquisition comes just days before the October 15 launch of BT’s revamped BT TV proposition, potentially giving the group a substantially enlarged base of broadband and pay-TV households once the TalkTalk transaction has cleared its regulatory review.

Canal+ has stepped up its opposition to proposed changes to the VAT regime for television subscriptions in France, warning that doubling the rate could cost the group as much as €200 million annually.

The French government is proposing to increase VAT on television subscriptions from 10% to 20% in mainland France, with Canal+ saying the rate would effectively quadruple in the French Overseas Territories.

Canal+ described the proposal as “inconsistent and ill-advised”, pointing out that the French tax authorities confirmed the application of the 10% rate to its subscriptions less than a year ago.

The broadcaster says it would be unable to absorb the additional cost and warned that the consequences could include higher subscription prices, reductions in its French workforce and lower financial contributions to film, sport and the wider creative industries.

“The measure would have a massive negative impact on the Group’s revenue and operating margin – potentially reaching €200 million annually – whereas the gain for the State would represent less than a quarter of that amount,” Canal+ said.

The group also highlighted concerns already expressed by the French film and rugby sectors, both of which receive significant funding through Canal+ rights and investment.

Canal+ said the proposed change amounted to “a direct attack” on its French operations and could accelerate a strategic shift towards international markets.

Now present in almost 70 countries, the company said it regretted that its activities in its home market were being targeted and that it would “draw the necessary conclusions and accelerate its international expansion strategy”.

Canal+ said it would continue making its case to the French authorities on behalf of subscribers, employees and commercial partners, as well as what it described as the French and European “cultural exception”.

Ynon Kreiz has been named co-CEO of the combined Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery.

Kreiz will serve alongside Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison, taking responsibility for day-to-day operations and the integration of the two companies. Ellison will retain responsibility for long-term strategy, creative direction, technology and capital allocation. Kreiz joins Paramount on October 5, ahead of the expected completion of the Warner Bros Discovery transaction on October 6.

A familiar name to European TV executives, Kreiz arrives from Mattel, where he has been chairman and CEO since 2018, he has extensive roots in television. He was a co-founder of Fox Kids Europe and was sent to London by Haim Saban in 1997 to establish the children’s television business in Europe. Fox Kids Europe subsequently became part of Disney following Disney’s acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide.

Kreiz later became chairman and CEO of Endemol, the international production group behind formats including Big Brother, before moving to Los Angeles to lead digital video company Maker Studios.

At Mattel, Kreiz sought to reposition the company from principally a toy manufacturer into an intellectual property and franchise business. The strategy’s most visible success was Barbie, produced with Warner Bros, which became the highest-grossing film worldwide in 2023. Mattel has subsequently developed screen projects around brands including Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, Barney and American Girl.

His appointment also gives Kreiz a significant operational role in what will be a challenging integration. Paramount has targeted $6 billion in savings from combining the businesses, while the enlarged company will carry around $80 billion of debt. Reuters notes that Kreiz previously oversaw more than $1.5 billion of savings at Mattel, including job reductions and manufacturing restructuring.

“In Ynon, I’m adding a partner with strong leadership and the operating firepower this integration demands,” said Ellison, describing the arrangement as a division of labour based on their complementary strengths.

Kreiz said he was excited to work with Ellison to build a “next-generation media and entertainment company”.

ITV has agreed a new content partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery that will bring more than 2,000 hours of TLC and Quest programming to ITVX over the next year.

The agreement will see dedicated TLC and Quest branded collections established on the streaming service, extending the reach of Warner Bros. Discovery’s UK free-to-air channels.

The TLC collection launches with the first series of the revived Mock the Week, hosted by Dara Ó Briain, alongside reality titles Dr. Pimple Popper and The Bad Skin Clinic.

Further programming will be added throughout the year and into 2027, including Zero Stars with Sara Pascoe and Roisin Conaty and Unacceptable, hosted by Ed Gamble. Selected seasons from the UK and US versions of 90 Day Fiancé and Say Yes to the Dress franchises will also be made available.

However, new episodes will continue to premiere on WBD’s own services. The second series of Mock the Week and forthcoming Unacceptable will premiere on TLC, with catch-up on discovery+, before subsequently joining the ITVX collection in 2027.

A dedicated Quest collection will follow later this year, featuring programming from the Salvage Hunters and Shed & Buried franchises, together with Vinnie Jones in the Country and Richard Hammond’s Workshop.

Graham Lafferty, SVP Content Strategy & Networks, UK&I, Warner Bros. Discovery, said the agreement would bring TLC’s “new-look content” to ITVX’s wider audience.

“We’re looking forward to expanding the partnership with Quest programming also coming to ITVX later in the year.”

Craig Morris, Director of Channels, ITVX & Acquisitions, ITV, said the deal would bring WBD programming to ITVX’s 20 million-plus monthly viewers, adding: “I’m delighted we’re able to supplement our own programming with these brilliantly bingeable titles.”

TLC became a free-to-air channel in the UK in January 2026, repositioning as a broader entertainment service combining comedy and scripted programming with WBD’s established reality franchises. It is available on Freeview, Freely, Sky and Virgin Media.