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.
Abu Dhabi already has tough rules on satellite dishes which state that a maximum of four may be mounted on the Emirate’s roofs. The capital city’s administration has now called on residents to remove satellite dishes that clutter up building roofs and apartment balconies. Abu Dhabi’s The Nation newspaper quotes Ahmed Al Mazroui, the director […]
Arguments over subscriber numbers and alleged under-reporting are not new, especially in India. But a recent high-profile argument between Hathway Cable and broadcasters Zee, Star and Turner, has raised the hackles at India’s TRAI regulator and its associated Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate & Tribunal (TDSAT) which admits it is more than somewhat annoyed by having […]
Loral Space & Communications won a spectacular reversal of the ViaSat action on August 8th – as far as damages are concerned – and which alleged that Loral’s then subsidiary Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) had misused ViaSat-owned patents. Back in April ViaSat had been awarded $283 million damages by a jury, which found wholly in ViaSat’s […]
A major report on “Rupert, the Bear” and BSkyB’s expansion into Europe, from Berenberg Bank reads: “BSkyB is going from a relatively simple, cash-generative business with an underleveraged balance sheet, returning cash to shareholders, to a highly-leveraged, complex business that will need to lower leverage before it can consider a return to buybacks. In some […]
International Launch Services (ILS) could see the troubled Proton rocket system back in use this autumn. ILS is expected to form its own Failure Review Board in September to examine the evidence and assess the results of Russia’s own examination of the probable cause of a catastrophic launch failure which occurred in May. That failure […]
International Launch Services (ILS), which handles the sale to ‘western’ clients of rocket launches by the Russian-built Proton system, is laying off staff. ILS has been badly hurt by a series of embarrassing failures by the Proton rocket, in particular the complete loss of a Russian Express-AM4R satellite in May. A failure review board has […]
Eutelsat admits it is biding its time and patiently waiting for the day when it can control all of Hispasat, and not just the 33.69 per cent it currently owns. Back in July 2013 Spanish infrastructure giant Abertis bought a 16.42 per cent slice of Hispasat from Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) which […]
One valuable measure of success for any satellite operator is the amount of contracted ‘backlog’, that is the value of that future business that the operator has tied up for years down the line. This past 12 months has seen Eutelsat increase that backlog by 19.9 per cent, from €5.37 billion to €6.44 billion. Eutelsat’s […]
In an industry where the usual talk is of ”millions” and even “billions” of dollars it is all too easy to forget that – at least in India – subscribers pay just pennies for their TV service. Yesterday (July 29) Airtel Digital TV said that it had raised its ARPU by 17 Rupees (US 28 […]
London-based specialist satellite operator Avanti Communications has not had the best of weeks. Last week it put out a profits warning saying it would be hit by a £7 million loan arrangement fee. It was bizarre in that house broker Jefferies then drew special attention to the statement, warning investors and shareholders to “give careful […]
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