Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.
Vivendi, late on June 4th, wrapped up the issue of a massive €2.1 billion bond in tranches to mature in 3, 6 and 9.5 years. A report to clients from Deutsche Bank summarises the background behind the move, saying: “The stated rationale was to finance the €1.1 billion M7 acquisition and to refinance an existing […]
A timely note from media analysts at Deutsche Bank questioned moves by some commercial broadcasters and, in particular, Mediaset’s purchase of a 9.6 per cent “friendly” stake in Germany’s ProSiebenSat1. The public rationale from Mediaset said: “It is in this spirit of collaboration and shared vision that Mediaset, the leader in Italy and Spain, has […]
Elon Musk’s satellite-based broadband constellation could start offering services over North America after just 6 batches of satellites have been launched. The first batch of 60 satellites were launched successfully last week on May 23rd. SpaceX, where Starlink is a subsidiary company, said it will launch between 2 and 6 dedicated extra Starlink launches by […]
In what DTC Broadcast describe as its “largest 4K order” yet, they are to supply 16 complete AEON-TX 4K transmitters, PRORXD-AEON receivers, antennas and ancillaries to Chinese broadcaster CCTV – DTC’s first major customer in the country. The order was sourced via DTC’s Hong Kong partner Ideal Systems. The first shipments to China will occur […]
Unfortunately, a “share price crash” headline seems to be a regular occurrence for London-based Avanti Communications. May 22nd saw the company’s share price fall 17 per cent to a miserable 1.61 pence/share. The reason seems to be that Avanti’s latest borrowing announcement of a further c$75 million to fund ongoing operations has spooked some shareholders. […]
Elon Musk’s debut launch of 60 ‘Starlink’ satellites should happen on May 23rd – probably. Two planned launches last week were scrubbed for bad weather and in the case of the second launch in order to update software on the satellites. But Musk took the postponement to brief journalists on how he saw the mega-constellation […]
Eutelsat, which on May 14th issued its 5th downward revision in market guidance in the past 7 quarters, saw its share price crash May 15th by 8 percent (€1.30) to €15.10. At one point the fall was even greater, to €15 a share, and significantly down on the €22.83 high-point of the past year. Eutelsat […]
As previously reported, two US Republican senators have called on the FCC to take speedy action on the proposed C-band auction. A bank’s special report says that the prospects for investors in SES (and by implication Intelsat) are now potentially capable of considerable upside benefits states Exane/BNPP. “On our weighted-volume assumptions, we believe that the […]
Equity analysts from investment bank Exane/BNPP spent an intense week talking to industry executives as well as regulators in Washington, and taking advantage of the Satellite 2019 conflab. The result is a 15-page report which very much focuses on the prospects for the C-Band Alliance’s financially important release of some 180 MHz of C-band spectrum […]
Telesat’s Erwin Hudson (VP/Low Earth Orbiting broadband division) speaking at last week’s Washington Satellite 2019 conference, said that the successful bidder for the company’s planned LEO fleet of “quite large” craft would be producing satellites at a rate of 20-25 a month. Hudson told delegates that Ottawa-based Telesat was already working with several antenna suppliers […]
Survey: Gen Alpha spends more time gaming than watching TV
Paramount axing MTV channels
France: TF1 to air Rugby World Cup 2027
BBC Studios, Yle renew output deal
Netflix, del Toro open stop-motion studio
Study: LEO craft beaming signals into Geostationary zones
International Love Island series coming to ITVX
WBITVP secures multiple new format commissions
Forecast: 82% of MEA connections on 4G/5G networks by 2030
Starship Test #11 ready for launch