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.

Arianespace confident for 2015 sales

Arianespace’s CEO Stéphane Israël says the launch company is expecting an “intense” schedule for this year. “We are targeting another record year of missions, while continuing our pursuit of commercial activities to further expand the order book,” he said. “This follows a milestone 2014 from the operational point of view, along with the important actions […]

January 7, 2015

Record year for rocket launchers

A December 31st launch of a Chinese Long March rocket closed out the most successful year for launches since 1993. The Chinese rocket was the 92nd orbital launch of the year, and China launched an additional 15 satellites during the year. 2013 saw just 81 rockets launched. Russia placed 32 satellites into orbit from Baikonur […]

January 6, 2015

CES says 2015 will resonate for 4K

As CES opens in Las Vegas (January 6th) the organisers say that visitors will see many more 4K/Ultra-HD displays on show, and also expect the year to see some dramatic reductions in the cost of the sets. Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group, said “You’ll see price points come down much faster than […]

January 5, 2015

Content WILL be King

A blog from T&T Capital Management argues – quite sensibly – that “content will once again prove to be King’. The author, Tim Travis, was extolling the virtues of Discovery Communications – as an investment opportunity – and arguing that its lack of celebrity actors meant that the broadcaster represented a “first class” media franchise […]

December 19, 2014

SES cracks 4K from O3b

O3b is a constellation of Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites backed by Luxembourg-based operator SES. Unlike geostationary satellites which orbit at very high levels above the Earth, these MEOs fly around the planet at heights of 5009 miles and at very high speed. Nevertheless, SES has demonstrated that O3b can also comfortably handle HD video […]

December 10, 2014

Arabsat budgets $2.5bn for ‘6.0’ satellites

Riyadh-based Arabsat is looking to invest a total of $2.5 billion in order to complete its 6th generation of satellites. “What is worth saying is that sixth-generation satellites are a quantum leap in terms of manufacturing technology and the capabilities of satellites. The new satellites will cover the Middle East, Africa, Asia and many parts […]

December 8, 2014

Loral settles ViaSat $100m claim

Satellite builder Loral Space & Communications says that it has participated in a mediation session in order to determine how the $100 million patent misuse award made to ViaSat of California was to be allocated. The legal dispute came about when ViaSat claimed that Loral, and its then subsidiary Space Systems/Loral, has misused and infringed […]

December 3, 2014

Could Sky fall to Vodafone?

The market is full of rumours that this or that that telephony operator wants to buy, merge or somehow absorb a rival or two, especially if that rival has TV-related assets. Widely talked about are discussions between Vodafone and Liberty Global’s European operations. BT (the former British Telecom, and which used to own cellular operator […]

December 1, 2014

Boeing loses Indonesia satellite contract

Satellites are frequently launched in pairs: a smaller craft sitting atop a larger satellite. This is the model used by Arianespace, for example, for many years. But Arianespace’s arch-rival SpaceX is also being used to launch two lighter satellites aboard one rocket. This pattern has caused an Indonesia satellite operator to cancel a planned order […]

November 21, 2014

Facebook and Avanti: Not so fast!

One online blogger accurately summed up the much-reported ‘fact’ that London-based satellite operator Avanti had struck some sort of deal with social media giant Facebook. The comment said: “Odd that this deal should be leaked to the press. It must be true as neither Avanti nor Facebook have denied it…” Avanti cannot deny the ‘talks’ […]

November 20, 2014