There are certainly no complaints from financial analysts over Sky’s full-year results, issued early July 30th. Typical is Equity analyst Jerry Dellis at investment bank Jefferies, who welcomed the UK’s declining churn rates as proof that the June price hike in the UK has “landed well” with subscribers. Jefferies compliments Sky’s 96,000 Broadband net additions […]
A report to investors from Exane-BNP/Paribas resulted in a downgrade (to “Neutral”) of their advice on satellite operator SES. The report follows on from last Friday’s SES half-year results, which on balance were better than expected and ahead of consensus expectations. But during the results presentation SES’ management advised that this current half-year would be […]
If the general comment that a ‘rising tide raises all boats’ is accepted then the opposite is also true, and on July 24th the tide absolutely went out for the world’s three major satellite stocks. SES had a terrible day, with its share price tumbling 8.16 per cent (€2.54) to €28.60, not helped by poor […]
Charlie Ergen’s lawyers will no doubt be back in action shortly. This time the argument will be with the powerful Federal Communications Commission and its chairman Tom Wheeler following his decision to reject a $3.3 billion ‘discount’ claimed by Dish Network over the recent AWS-3 wireless spectrum auctions. Dish Network paid for the spectrum gained […]
Everyone admires many things about the BBC, some go so far as to love everything about it, and some of those people don’t even work for it. Often, it seems, those that love it most are foreigners who compare its output with the fare provided by their national broadcasters. But even they are puzzled when, […]
The head of New Mexico’s Spaceport Authority told a special US investigation committee that she was hoping Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic ‘SpaceShip Two’ sub-orbital space plane would start regular commercial flights next summer, but not before July. However, Christine Anderson added something of a sting in the tail of her answer by saying that […]
It was widely reported on July 12th that the BBC is to face tough external scrutiny, and perhaps a complete restructuring. The government is setting up a panel of eight advisors to look at how the BBC is funded, run and spends its huge licence fee income. Also included in the ‘Green Paper’ consultation document […]
A ‘war of words’ has broken out between Sky and BT, with Sky calling for BT’s ‘Openreach’ service be separated from the rest of the telco. Meanwhile, BT raised the level of rhetoric by claiming that Sky’s position in the UK is now “so dominant” that some sports bodies “wouldn’t even talk to us” over […]
Strong praise for SpaceX, France’s arch-rival rocket launching system, was not expected at a French parliamentary hearing on July 7th. Especially when the praise came in a comment from the head of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) launcher directorate, Gaele Winters. He told the French delegates that SpaceX had been an outstanding success. “Despite the […]
It is now clear that the rumoured Axel Springer ‘merger’ with German broadcaster Pro7-Sat.1 is “credible” in the words of investment bank Exane/BNP-Paribas. A note to investors on July 8th by the bank says that while the tie-up is hypothetical at this stage, they nevertheless take a look at what any such deal might mean. […]