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.
Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat was faced last week with continued protests from supporters of Kurdish Med Nuçe and Newroz TV channels. Eutelsat has taken the channels down following objections. Med Nuçe ceased being carried on October 3rd while Newroz went dark on October 11th. The past few days have seen protestors in Paris hand out […]
Last week Sky delivered a somewhat ‘light’ Q1 results statement that was much criticised by the market given that many of its usual headline numbers on DTH subscriber growth (or fall) and Churn data was missing. Sky said a week ago that Q1 trading was “slower” although price increases had helped drive revenues to a […]
Satellite operator SES is not due to publish its Q3 trading update until October 28th, but for one analyst there are concerns for this year’s numbers and guidance. Giles Thorne, equity analyst at investment bank Jefferies, suggests in his note to clients on October 12th that the SES guidance for this year now looks “at […]
One set of results – albeit limited in detail – generated some extremely different conclusions and comments from equity analysts who closely watch Sky’s trio of European operations. Sky issued its Q1 results on October 13th.. Berenberg Bank’s comments were headlined “Underwhelming” saying that the absence of most key performance indicators, and of EBIT, took […]
In August a Luxembourg-based offshoot of Beijing-based Xinwei Group announced it had bought Spacecom of Israel (Space Communication Ltd), operators of the AMOS fleet of satellites for $285 million, an impressive – some might say courageous – premium of 41 per cent on the stock market valuation. The deal has been somewhat stymied by the […]
Rocket company SpaceX says it is homing on the probable cause of the September 1st explosion which destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its valuable satellite cargo. At an October 9th speech at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington DC, SpaceX president and CEO Gwynne Shotwell told delegates that it seemed there was no […]
October 13th will see Sky unveil its first-quarter results. Analysts are looking to the results to show the progress – or lack of it – in particular at its Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland divisions. Back in July 2014, BSkyB announced it was going to buy its German and Italian sister pay-TV broadcasters. The deal […]
Equity analysts at Deutsche Bank have taken a fresh look at Vivendi in general and Canal Plus in particular, and in a thorough 94-page report says that they are “believers in the Canal+ turnaround” and that C+ is “central” to the Vivendi investment case. “Vivendi has been rationalized back to its core of music and […]
Video entertainment is all-important in so many ways. Netflix has been around for almost 10 years but it is only in the last 2-3 years that it has gained international prominence. Amazon Prime is an even more recent phenomenon. ‘Content is still king’, but the metrics are now changing. A comprehensive 67-page study from the […]
Hot on the heels of one report that suggested that Rupert Murdoch might be about to bring the trio of Sky pay-TV broadcasters into his 21st Century Fox operation comes a highly negative report on Sky including its European businesses. The report comes from equity analysts at Berenberg Bank. The bank has been negative on […]
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Karlén named EVP and CEO Viaplay Group Sweden
Report: Larger TV size sales continue to grow