Mike Fries


Vodafone confirms talks with Liberty Global

Vodafone has confirmed that it is in “early stage discussions with Liberty Global” about potentially acquiring parts of its European operations. In a statement Vodafone said that it is in talks with Liberty Global about possibly buying “overlapping continental European assets owned by Liberty Global”. It stressed that it was not in merger talks and […]

Liberty Global appoints Nair as CEO of LatAm

Liberty Global’s chief technology and innovation officer, Balan Nair, is set to become president and CEO of the cable giant’s Latin American and Caribbean arm once it is spun off. Liberty Global said Nair will remain in his current role until its Lat Am operation is split off into a separate public company, which is […]

Liberty says ITV ‘not interesting’

ITV’s market valuation and the premium that would be required to buy it means that the commercial broadcaster is “not interesting” as an acquisition target to Liberty Global, according to president and CEO Mike Fries. Answering an analyst question on ITV, in which Liberty Global holds a 9.9% stake, after the cable giant reported less […]

Liberty boosts subs as Netflix roll out continues

All3Media co-owner Liberty Global added 313,000 next-generation TV customers in Q4 and said it plans to expand the deployment of its new 4K cloud-based set-top box, as it rolls out Netflix apps to its global footprint. Announcing its fourth quarter and full-year 2016 results, Liberty said that overall it added 1.2 million subscribers last year […]

Netflix launches on Liberty Global in Netherlands

Netflix has launched on Liberty Global’s Horizon advanced TV platform in the Netherlands – the first launch of the service by the international cable group following the deal struck between Liberty Global and the streaming video giant in September. Netflix is now available on the Ziggo cable platform in the Netherlands. Ziggo subscribers can access […]

Liberty CEO: content is ‘Kong’

Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries has said that the company will be “selective” about content investments, but hinted work is now underway with US studio Lionsgate on a string of shows. Speaking on Liberty Global’s third quarter earnings call, Fries said that Liberty has “four or five great ideas cooking with Lionsgate”, after the cable […]

Liberty Global slides into the red

Liberty Global fell into the red in the third quarter. The company recorded a loss of US$249.5 million, driven by its US$436 million losses on derivatives, compared with a profit of US$133.3 million for the same period last year. The international cable group nevertheless posted solid revenue growth, recording sales of US$5.2 billion for the quarter, […]

Liberty plans content investments

Liberty Global plans to make “smart, opportunistic investments” in content following its recent announcement that it would commission four original drama series from All3Media, according to president and CEO Mike Fries. Speaking to analysts after the company unveiled strong Q2 financial results at the end of last week, Fries (pictured) said that the group would […]

Horizon growth helps boost Liberty Global subs

Liberty Global’s advanced TV base passed the seven million mark in the second quarter, with 184,000 new Horizon TV subscribers across Europe and 66,000 new TiVo customers in the UK. The growth means that 36% of Liberty’s base in countries where such services are offered take one of its advanced TV offerings. The company’s performance […]

Liberty Global sounds Brexit warning

Liberty Global will likely hold back on any further investment in the UK and deploy its capital elsewhere in the event of a Brexit vote next week, according to president and CEO Mike Fries. Liberty shareholders yesterday approved a £700,000 (US$1 million) donation to the Remain campaign. Fries told the Financial Times that a leave […]

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