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.
Rupert Murdoch celebrates his 80th birthday a week from now on March 11 (he was born on March 11, 1931). It just could be that his birthday will see confirmation that his News Corp is given permission to acquire the 61 per cent of BSkyB it does not already own. The prospects come about because […]
At the end of last year,[bitsontherun DgUlZZw6][bitsontherun DgUlZZw6] US cable giant Cablevision announced its plans to spin off its Rainbow Media Holdings programme-making and channel business. The scheme called for a distribution of new stock to existing shareholders and thus makes the move tax efficient. Rainbow’s channels are highly-regarded and include AMC (home of Mad […]
TV broadcasting in Russia has had a hard time, badly hurt by the advertising recession. One benchmark broadcaster is CTC Media which has had a roller-coaster ride this past two years. That position is changing – and fast. Bankers Morgan Stanley say Russia will enjoy one of the fastest advertising growth rates on the planet. […]
Nilesat did itself no favours by dropping carriage of Arabic news channel Al Jazeera on January 30 at the height of the ‘People’s Revolution’ in Tahrir Square. At the time the blame was placed firmly at the door of Egypt’s powerful information ministry, and its minister Anas Al Fiki. He was speedily sacked, but not […]
The second annual international 3D Creative Arts Awards, organised by the International 3D Society, saw BSkyB win the coveted “best 3D-TV” award, for Sky’s steamy Dance, Dance, Dance show. Dance, Dance, Dance is a specially choreographed show (by Arlene Phillips) comprising six segments filmed in and around London. The six specially commissioned dances feature Bollywood, […]
Last week’s Egyptian protests saw Al Jazeera’s signals from Nilesat terminated. The problem meant that Al Jazeera’s viewers had to search the sky for alternate transmissions over the Middle East, not least looking to Arabsat and Eutelsat. The loss of Al Jazeera’s signal meant that subscribers to the Orbit Showtime Network also lost their news […]
In the past few days, Sky Deutschland (SD) has resolved a troubling legal dispute with former investors by settling $20 million on them, and also seen News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch say last week that his investment in the German pay-TV operator was “starting to pay off”. A week ago, SD raised €165 million via a […]
The blogosphere is full of gossip and speculation that an upcoming key date, March 7, could be instrumental in taking pay-radio outfit Sirius XM onto its next stage. Currently the situation is that John Malone’s Liberty Media is – in effect – in control of 40 per cent of Sirius XM (Liberty injected $530m in […]
UK-based broadband-by-satellite provider Avanti Communications is involved in a legal dispute with new launch provider SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) over use of its groundbreaking Falcon-9 rocket. Nevertheless, Avanti’s CEO David Williams says the new company has sufficient spectrum available to “launch perhaps 20 satellites”. Details of the legal spat were revealed in Avanti’s annual report. […]
The past couple of years have not been good for pay-radio’s prospects in Europe. We’ve seen the Worldspace catastrophe, now well over two years into its Chapter 11 bankruptcy (WS filed in October 2008) and with legal bills still running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Worldspace’s European and other international operations […]
Ofcom: “BBC should play to its strengths”
Brazil: Anti-piracy action takes down 535 websites
Paramount+ partners with Arsenal
ESA secures €22bn in funding
BBC Sport scores La Liga digital clips deal
Magic Light creates The Gruffalo & Friends idents for BBC
Report: Disabled people underrepresented in broadcasting jobs
Channel 4 reports record Hollyoaks viewership
IMG, KNVB sign media rights deal
MFE takes 32.9% stake in Impresa