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.

EBU calls for end to sat-jamming

The EBU has called on delegates at the World Radiocommunication Conference at the ITU in Geneva to draft a treaty to tackle the issue of ‘Satellite uplink jamming’ – basically when states block transmissions to prevent messages getting out, or unwelcome signals coming in. Satellite uplink jamming contravenes Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of […]

January 25, 2012

London Olympics: “Biggest media event ever”

Ofcom, the UK media regulator, says that the 2012 London Olympic Games will be the largest media event ever held on the plant. They expect the games to host around 26,000 print and broadcasting journalists and their technical teams. Indeed, Ofcom suggests that handling the demands of 26,000 journalists presents the organisers with a “unique […]

January 24, 2012

Slow subs growth predicted for BSkyB

BSkyB will unveil its mid-year results (to December 31st) on January 31st. Another investment bank analyst has forecast that the pay-TV operator’s subs growth will stumble for its second quarter (to December 31st). Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a note to clients, says it expects BSkyB to show a net subs growth of 55,000 […]

January 18, 2012

Italy DTT auction is “wrong” says Berlusconi

Mediaset’s vice chairman, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, says Italy’s planned auction of six new digital terrestrial frequencies is “wrong and unfair”. Berlusconi, son of Italy’s former Prime Minister, said similar DTT frequencies in the rest of Europe had been awarded without fees. He told Italian news daily La Stampa: “An auction would not only be wrong […]

January 16, 2012

DirecTV to “outperform” say key Analysts

US pay-TV broadcaster DirecTV was upgraded by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on January 11th. Recently, analysts at Wunderlich reiterated their “buy” rating on shares of DirecTV in a research note to investors on Wednesday, December 14th. They now have a $60.00 price target […]

January 12, 2012

Confusion at Sony?

With the all-important CES show opening in Vegas there will be plenty of eyeballs watching for electronics giant Sony’s latest announcements, and whether non-product news confirms what’s happening at the top of the troubled company. One big question is whether Sony will continue its retreat from the TV manufacturing business. There are question marks over […]

January 9, 2012

Arianespace: Record year and profits

Satellite launch provider Arianespace says it will break-even for its 2011 activity, and has a record 13 cargoes planned for 2012, helped by a new fleet of launch vehicles. This year will see seven launches by the heavy lifter Ariane 5, the workhorse of the fleet. Five will be launched by the medium-sized Soviet-Russian space […]

January 6, 2012

No entertainment for Chinese viewers

A January 3rd report covered by BBC Monitoring says that recent Chinese clamp downs on entertainment and variety shows enforced by the Chinese media regulator (SARFT) has seen two-thirds of the shows vanish from viewer’s screens. Some 34 satellite channels are affected according to the country’s top broadcasting watchdog. Out have gone talent contents, talk […]

January 4, 2012By Chris Forrester

Inside Satellite TV’s Annual Awards

From time to time our editorial staff has wished to recognise a major achievement in our industry. We talk amongst ourselves about some major accomplishments during the year, and this is the result: The year’s Top 5 most notable activities recognised. They might not be the Oscars or the Emmys, but they are no less […]

December 22, 2011

Grim 2012 for ITV

ITV is doing well in the ratings and might well enjoy a bumper holiday season helped by Christmas specials of shows like Downton Abbey. But a report from the media department at investment bankers Morgan Stanley suggests that 2012 is going to be extremely tough for the network. ITV itself is assuming a flat 2012 […]

December 16, 2011