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.
Getting a satellite into space is hard – and worrying – work for any broadcaster or operator. When that satellite also has an essential and massive antenna on board, it takes the headache to a new level. And when there’s past evidence that similar giant antennas can prove to be stubborn and not deploy then […]
The giant Airbus Group (which used to be known as EADS) has within it a division that manufactures the giant Ariane 5 rockets as part of its Astrium operation which also builds communications satellites used by many of the world’s broadcasters. Astrium received an outline contract last year to build 18 higher-capacity Ariane rockets for […]
The past week has seen London-based speciality satellite operator Avanti Communications have something of a roller-coaster in terms of its share price, and market reception. Last week saw Avanti announce a contract win from mobile telco giant Vodafone, which immediately propelled Avanti’s share price from the previous week’s miserable £1.95 (€2.29) to a much healthier […]
Last Friday’s results from Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES have now been digested by the market, and one investment bank didn’t much care for what they saw. Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients, welcomed SES’s guidance that this year should drive revenues up 6-7 per cent but then said that they were expecting more! The […]
Luxembourg-base SES is already carrying more than 6230 satellite channels, some 18 per cent of the world’s total channels (35,000), and this year – if its forecasts are reasonably accurate – the operator will overtake Intelsat as the world’s largest satellite business measured by revenues. The reason is that Intelsat is very dependent on so-called […]
Let’s be clear. SES CEO Romain Bausch didn’t say “roll on 2015” as he delivered the satellite operator’s 2013 end of year numbers. But 2014 should see fewer satellite delays, a reinforced position in fast-developing markets, a new income stream from its O3b data and broadband constellation, and recent investment that starts to pay back. […]
UK cable giant Virgin Media has again incurred the wrath of London roads regulator Transport for London (TfL) by digging up 5 lanes of the hugely busy A316 arterial road into London ahead of the morning rush-hour. Virgin Media had permission to dig up one lane at a time and to carry out the works […]
The past few weeks have not been good for British pay-TV giant BSkyB. This week has seen BSkyB lose a Court battle with rival Virgin Media, and the growing success of arch-rival BT Sport is worrying for Sky. Fighting back against the threat posed by BT Sport has seen Sky start to secure a large […]
India’s Videocon d2h branded satellite broadcasting operation is aiming to quickly move into the Top 3 slot amongst India’s hugely competitive DTH broadcasters. Last year (2013) they achieved growth of 26-27 per cent, and taking their total subscriber base to more than 10 million. D2h’s CEO Anil Khera says that 2013 saw a 1TB set-top […]
Analysts at investment bank Berenberg say they expect satellite operator SES to announce positive full-year results on February 21st (to December 31st) but perhaps more importantly to announce an improved guidance for 2014’s numbers and beyond. Senior analyst Sarah Simon states that SES is a “top pick” for 2014, and headlines her note to clients […]
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