Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

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.

Europe anxious over threat to Arianespace

Rocket company Arianespace is the pride and joy of Europe’s space agencies, and in particular, the French government, which sees the Ariane rocket as a pinnacle of its engineering prowess. But Arianespace is under severe threat from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and news that Germany’s DLR Aerospace Centre – a heavyweight contributor to the European Space […]

November 28, 2017

Market reacts to new Sky originals

Sky’s announcement this week that it would be investing in more than 50 new TV series (up from 24) and including a second series of ratings winner Riviera as well as bringing a slew of high-visibility acting talent (Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba, David Morrissey, Kelly Reilly etc) was well received by the viewing public, but […]

November 23, 2017

Inmarsat ‘rescued’ by Emirates order

November is proving to be a challenging month for London-based satellite giant Inmarsat. On October 20th its share price stood at £6.23.  Go back a little to August 21st and a share was worth £7.31. By November 17th that value had plummeted to £4.94 – a 5-year “low”. The collapse was down to a general […]

November 20, 2017

SES rethink on C-band use?

Intelsat wants to modify how its C-band frequencies are used over the US. It has in mind using bandwidth over metropolitan areas for 5G activity.  Intelsat (and Intel) has submitted proposals to the FCC. SES, which also has potentially extremely valuable C-band frequencies over the US (because of its acquisition of the ‘Americom’ fleet of […]

November 17, 2017

Inmarsat in the doghouse

In what must be considered a case of “me too”, the market has treated London-based satellite operator Inmarsat with a marked downgrade following its profit warning. Inmarsat’s share price has crashed over the past ten days from about 600p to 497p on November 15th. Indeed, the Inmarsat results follow on from similar poor results from […]

November 16, 2017

Scotland’s ‘Space Port’ concept could be ideal

A new space port built on one of the Scottish Shetland Isles could make an ideal location for launching certain types of satellite, according to a report from the UK Space Agency. The Agency is currently involved in a series of ‘roadshows’  (LaunchUK) and public open evenings to explain the concept. The Agency says new […]

November 15, 2017

Disney plans big for Mickey’s 90th birthday

Just over 12 months from now, on November 18th 2018, it will be Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday. Christine McCarthy, CFO at The Walt Disney Company, speaking during the company’s results conference call last week, told analysts that they had better mark their calendars for the date. “Mickey’s 90th is something that the entire company’s going […]

November 13, 2017

DISH Network focused on Connectivity

The November 9th analysts’ results telephone conference with DISH Network’s senior executives seemed more focused on founder Charlie Ergen’s views on the prospects for connectivity. He explained that DISH now had a “second opportunity” to build on the DTH business that started in 1992. Ergen was asked to comment on his thinking and potential strategy […]

November 10, 2017

SES share price sinks below €13

The world’s ‘Big Three’ satellite operators (SES, Intelsat and Eutelsat) are all under pressure with their revenues and profit margins squeezed and anxieties over their ability to continue to stay relevant in a world where threats from broadband and data incomes threatened by a highly competitive market. SES has suffered badly, with a further 2.3 […]

November 9, 2017

Gulf media racked by Saudi broadcasting detainees

The slew of “detained” senior Saudi Arabian officials named in a November 4th crackdown on alleged corruption contains many very well-known names in Arabic broadcasting. The news emerged via an official Saudi decree. The most senior media player of those named is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire behind Kingdom Holdings, and what is claimed […]

November 7, 2017