iWorld
Tata Sky launches new, improved offer on Tata Sky Binge+ Android STB
MUMBAI: Tata Sky announced a new and improved offer on India’s next-generation Android set-top box Tata Sky Binge+, aimed at providing customers an upgraded and immersive content-viewing experience.
Introduced at a subsidised rate of Rs 3,999, the new offer will enable subscribers to watch both linear channels (broadcast via satellite) and OTT content (via internet) from popular apps on their TV screen using a single remote.
Tata Sky chief commercial & content officer Pallavi Puri said: “Entertainment consumption is evolving rapidly. As content becomes multi-platform, we are constantly pushing the envelope to expand our expertise so that we can take content to our viewers through whichever touchpoint they are most attuned to. Bringing the strengths of traditional DTH with next-generation features and the world of OTT content together, the fully integrated Tata Sky Binge+ device delivers an enriched viewing experience, with the highest image quality and a consistent end-user experience on their TV screens.”
Additionally, Tata Sky Binge+ enables viewers to play any show, movie, music, game on their laptop, tablet or mobile phone and watch it directly on their TV with its in-built Chromecast feature. Empowered by first in-class technology, Tata Sky Binge+ also includes Google Assistant that makes discovering content easy, using the voice search feature thereby allowing access to plethora of games and apps available on Google Play store. It is compatible with all types of TVs including 4K, HD LED, LCD, or plasma technology as it supports HDMI output and can also be connected to older TV sets over audio and video cable.
Priced at Rs 3999/-, Tata Sky Binge+ provides the benefit of six months OTT content that the user can watch on their STBs including 7 days missed shows and access to 3 months Amazon Prime subscription at no additional cost.
iWorld
Bill Ackman makes a $64bn bid for Universal Music Group
The hedge fund boss wants to list the world’s biggest record label in New York and thinks he knows exactly what ails it
NEW YORK: Bill Ackman wants to buy the world’s biggest record label. Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund run by the billionaire investor, submitted a non-binding proposal on Tuesday to acquire all outstanding shares of Universal Music Group in a business combination transaction worth roughly $64.4 billion (around 55.8 billion euros).
Under the terms of the offer, UMG shareholders would receive 9.4 billion euros in cash, equivalent to 5.05 euros per share, plus 0.77 shares of a newly created company, dubbed New UMG, for each share held. Pershing Square values the total package at 30.40 euros per share, a 78 per cent premium to UMG’s closing price on April 2.
The deal would see UMG merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, with the combined entity incorporating as a Nevada corporation and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. New UMG would publish financial statements under US GAAP and become eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion. Pershing Square says the transaction is expected to close by year-end, with all equity financing backstopped by Ackman’s firm and its affiliates, and all debt financing committed at signing. The transaction would cancel 17 per cent of UMG’s outstanding shares, leaving New UMG with 1.541 billion shares outstanding.
Ackman has a long history with UMG. Pershing Square first bought approximately 10 per cent of the company from Vivendi in the summer of 2021 for around $4 billion, around the time of UMG’s listing on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. He has since trimmed that position, raising around $1.4 billion from the sale of a 2.7 per cent stake in March 2025, and resigned from UMG’s board in May 2025, citing new executive and board obligations arising from recent investments.
His diagnosis of UMG’s troubles is blunt. The company’s stock has fallen around 33 per cent over the past twelve months on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, and Ackman lays out six reasons why. These include uncertainty around the Bolloré Group’s 18 per cent stake in the company, the postponement of UMG’s US listing, the underutilisation of UMG’s balance sheet, the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm, a failure to reflect UMG’s 2.7 billion euro stake in Spotify in its valuation, and what Ackman calls suboptimal shareholder investor relations, communications and engagement.
The Bolloré stake has long cast a shadow over the company. Cyrille Bolloré stepped down from UMG’s board in July 2025 as the Bolloré Group battled the French financial markets regulator over its stake in Vivendi, which holds a further capital interest in UMG. UMG had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2025 for a proposed secondary listing in America, but put those plans on hold in March 2026, citing market conditions.
Ackman has kind words for UMG’s management, at least. “Since UMG’s listing, Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” he said. But he made his diagnosis plain: “UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”
In other words, Ackman believes UMG is a great business trapped inside a broken structure. If the board agrees, he intends to fix that, loudly and in New York.
