Karim Michel Sabbagh, President and CEO of satellite operator SES, has described 2017 as “an important year of transformation for SES,” as it reported revenue of €2.035 billion, down 1.6 per cent, declaring a dividend of €0.80 for 2017, a reduction of 40 per cent from 2016, which it says will allow a strengthening of […]
Telecom Italia looks set to pull out of a proposed joint-venture with Canal+, the pay-TV arm of its top shareholder French media group Vivendi, according to a Reuters report. Under the terms of the joint-venture, which had been challenged by Telecom Italia’s independent directors, the phone group would pay for content provided by Canal+. An […]
More UK homes are set to benefit from ultrafast Internet speeds, after a draft decision by comms regulator Ofcom that it says will will halve the upfront cost of building ‘full-fibre’ broadband networks. Full-fibre broadband is many times faster – and around five times more reliable – than today’s superfast internet services. But it is […]
Pay-TV in Spain is significantly increasing its revenue share well ahead of FTA. In the third quarter of the year, pay-TV made €523.1 million, up 14 per cent on the same period last year, according to the CNMC. Meanwhile, FTA TV’s revenues amounted to €371.4 million, up just 3.6 per cent. Most of the pay-TV […]
The UK’s annual television licence fee is to rise to £150.50 (€171) from £147, the government has announced. The increase, which will come into effect on April 1st, follows last year’s rise to £147 from £145.50. Last year the government announced that the licence fee would rise in line with inflation for the next five […]
Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset is planning to launch two new free-to-air TV channels later this year. In April, the first new channel branded ‘20’ will take the place of Rete Capri on national DTT channel position 20, hence the name. It will broadcast in SD and the programme schedule will consist of recent movies and […]
Equity researchers from Deutsche Bank have issued a note to investors following the news that German commercial network broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has appointed a new CEO – former Dyson executive Max Conze – to replace Thomas Ebeling. As the researchers remind investors following the publication of results February 22nd, Pro7Sat.1 has issued three profits warnings over […]
Streaming services are frustrating US consumers according to a survey conducted by Penthera, a specialist in download-to-go (D2Go) functionality. Complaints are often related to a poor user experience, which could be improved with D2Go. “Whether they are heading to the beach or the daily commute, consumers recognise they cannot rely on always having video-grade data […]
Despite the success of launch of two test craft for its intended 12,000 “Starlink” satellite broadband-by-satellite global coverage scheme on February 22nd, SpaceX is now cautioning that the deployment of the constellation and service commencement will take longer than first announced. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that these two prototypes, important as they are, […]
Disney has lost a bid to stop US movie rental company Redbox from reselling download codes for its movies. Redbox rents and sells movies via thousands of automated kiosks placed throughout the country that dispense DVD and Blu-ray discs. The company bought Disney movies on DVD to offer for rental in these kiosks, and the […]