News Corp-controlled pay-TV firm BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is buying itself a foothold in the looming social TV field by acquiring 10 percent of the startup Zeebox for a sum that is “double-digit millions” in both pounds and dollars.

When the News Corporation-controlled UK satellite broadcaster Sky launched a free iPad app for its Sky Sports News channel in September 2010, some wondered if it would also start to offer a paid version of the product. Well, it’s taken 15 months, but it’s happened.

Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) is laying some content groundwork for its launch in the UK and Ireland, expected in early 2012: today it announced a deal with MGM to stream first-run feature films in the two countries. The deal,  exclusive to Netflix for new releases, will mean that more established players…

BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) has declared its Sky Go live and on-demand service - with which subscribers can watch over PC, Mac, Xbox, iPad and iPhone - has 1.6 million viewers. “Sky customers watched 33 million pieces of content in September alone,” CEO Jeremy Darroch told investment analysts on Wednesday.

Sky News, which had said it would introduce charges when it launched its iPad app back in March, has confirmed the price at £4.99 per month.

The newest voicemail hacking scandal that has engulfed the UK tabloid News of the World was described by one commentator today as a “slow motion train wreck.” Now that train wreck is threatening to derail the newspaper’s owner, News International.

UK satcaster BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is adopting the German and Austrian brand for its mobile, on-demand and iPTV viewing options. From July, its Sky Player and Sky Mobile TV services will all be branded “Sky Go”.

UK telco and TV platform Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) could ape its rival BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) by investing in a public WiFi network, so that its subscribers can consume their TV bouquet on the go.

BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) will introduce clickable pre-roll ads in its mobile video output after contracting a new web video ad tech firm.

Sky News became the latest News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) property to go gung-ho about tablets on Wednesday when it launched its first iPad app for free, but the app will be wrapped in to BSkyB’s subscription packages “at some stage in the year”.

Robert adds: BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is launching its Sky News iPad app on March 17.

News Corp.‘s BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) confirmed it has bought UK WiFi network The Cloud from its investor, DFJ Esprit, “to allow easy access to Sky content on multiple devices in and out of home”.

Virgin Media has yet to go commercial on an all-you-can-eat music service it announced way back in June 2009, but it is still forging ahead with a separate strategy to sell music via mobile. Monday will see the launch of a new free app, which the quad-play provider created with…

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is looking for buyers for its Orange-branded IPTV channels, and News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) is among the companies said to be potential buyers. Orange operates the most successful IPTV service in a country that is the world leader in IPTV adoption - some 2.9 million customers.

The Times joined the Financial Times as the only national UK newspaper with a news app for iPad’s international launch Friday morning. Yes, it’s pay-for, but there’s an entirely different pricepoint from the new websites, which will soon charge £1 a day, £2 a week or free with print… It’s…

Update 2: Despite what we were told in an earlier update, we now understand that Omnifone’s new product will facilitate Sky’s new unlimited music download service, which will be ISP-agnostic. MusicStation Next Generation will provide the backend technology to Sky’s service but, despite having deals with each of the major…

Orange UK can now claim to offer all Premier League soccer matches over its mobile TV service. The telco had already offered Sky Sports channels, which hold the rights to 92 live games, in its £5-per-month BSkyB bouquet. Now it has added the sports channel lineup from Setanta, which has…

BSkyB (LON:BSY) CEO James Murdoch has distanced the UK satellite and broadband operator from the call-to-play TV game show scandals that have engulfed many of the country’s main TV networks. Murdoch told the Royal Television Society’s journal (via Variety): “We knew we could make a lot of money out of…