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.
More details are emerging about the Elon Musk/Greg Wyler plan for hundreds of orbiting satellites. WorldVu Satellites has issued invitations quote to satellite builders for a 640-satellite constellation. Each satellite would weigh 125 kg and orbit at 1200 km above the Earth’s surface. The invitations to quote (“Request for Proposals”) are expected to be finalised […]
Billionaire Elon Musk, who made his fortune co-founding PayPal, and backs the Tesla electric car as well as the SpaceX rocket launch system, is now helping finance a plan to launch 700 small satellites into orbit. The plan comes from Greg Wyler, one of the initial backers of the O3b (the ‘other 3 billion’) satellite […]
Closing down a highly controversial Arabic TV channel has seemingly cost Saudi Arabia’s Culture & Information Minister his job. Abdul Aziz Khoja was removed from his post earlier this week. “I have ordered the offices of Wesal channel in Riyadh closed and to ban any broadcast by it in the kingdom,” Khoja said on his […]
Canal Plus is thirty years old this week. The broadcaster has a dedicated web-site to help celebrate the event, and reminding users that it started 30 years ago with just one terrestrial channel. The special web-pages offer a special concert, some 6 hours of video looking back at some of the channel’s highlights, and special […]
O3b is the SES and Google-backed satellite constellation planning to reach the “other 3 billion” people who do not have adequate Internet access. It currently has 8 satellites in orbit and its next quartet of satellites will launch into space on December 18th. The launch will complete Phase 1 of O3b’s plans. The satellites will […]
Chinese billionaire Wang Jing – worth $6.1 billion according to Forbes’ annual list – wants to start building a low-cost satellite system. Wang, aged 40, is working with Tsinghua University, and plans to have a 5-craft constellation in space within 10 years. Wang is already backing the building of a new $40 billion canal across Nicaragua […]
There is considerable commercial rivalry between the France-based Arianespace rocket system, and the US-based Space Exploration (SpaceX) rocket. France’s space minister Genevieve Fioraso has criticised SpaceX, saying it is all but “dumping” their rockets onto the commercial market. The Minister’s rationale for her arguments is that SpaceX is being unfairly helped by the USA’s space […]
Investment bankers Mediatech Capital Partners (MCP) believe that Netflix is now firmly a potential acquisition target. Porter Bibb, MCP’s managing partner, speaking on Bloomberg TV, told viewers that Netflix’s 50 million-plus subscribers – and growing – might put financial pressures on Reed Hastings, Netflix’s founder. “Netflix [share price fell] but it is still very, very […]
BSkyB’s results were better than most analysts expected, but this didn’t make life any easier for Sarah Simon, a senior analyst at Berenberg Bank, who continued her negative advice to clients, and marking down the bank’s price target for BSkyB shares from 800p to 780p. October 16th saw BSkyB’s share price fell back a few […]
On the one hand everything for BSkyB is looking pretty rosy. Its acquisition of its counterparts in German and Italy is shaping up well, and James Murdoch’s highly positive comments at MIPCOM on October 13th should have helped this rosy glow. However, a report from Berenberg Bank stays negative, and the bank is advising investors […]
SkyShowtime launches on United Group platforms
Report: Older audiences regularly watching influencer content
The Celebrity Traitors Final attracts 15m viewers
Spain: Orange, Vodafone add new TV channels 
Analysis: Repeat Xmas ads top consumer testing
Channel 4 appoints Nash as Director of Brand & Content Marketing
DocuBox launches Polish version
Karlén named EVP and CEO Viaplay Group Sweden
Report: Larger TV size sales continue to grow
Ofcom fines Virgin Media £23.8m for telecare failiures