The top men at News Corporation have had their ‘qualitative bonuses’ cut by half because of the phone hacking scandal in the UK. The quantitative element remained intact, though, as the share price has risen 23 per cent. The businesses have certainly done well but, clearly, the main spur to the stock boost was the […]

NileSat and Arabsat have removed the state-backed Syrian TV channels from its satellites. Instructions were given to the two Arab satellite operators by the Arab States foreign ministries. However, the action received immediate condemnation from Damascus. BBC Monitoring reports that the Syria’s Information Ministry the ban “contradicts principles of media work in an unacceptable and […]

The broadcasting industry is gearing up for the ‘next big thing’, and well beyond today’s 3D, ‘smart’ TVs and HDTV. With the giant IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin now underway, and just days away from IBC, the professional end of the broadcasting industry, the talk is all about Ultra-HDTV. We expect the first announcements […]

Back on August 7th, a Russian rocket failed to deliver two satellites into orbit. Various boards of inquiry were set up, but the approval to resume launches has not yet been given which is a major worry for Mexico’s Satmex satellite operator. The exact same type of rocket is due to launch Satmex-8 later this […]

Here’s a conundrum: Pay-radio operator Sirius-XM is making very useful operating profits in its US division (and minority stakes in its Canadian operation also help out). Last week, Sirius-XM paid off $681 million of debt almost a year ahead of time, such is its sound financial position. John Malone shrewdly bailed the business out from […]

In the latest issue of IP Television International (available at IBC) we take a broad look at the Smart TV market.  A report from TDG, quoted in the article, chastises TV makers for failing to make the most of their pivotal position in the fast growing Smart TV segment, though it does allow they have […]

For the past three weeks, Jordanian TV channel JoSat has been dark, unavailable because of actions by an unnamed – but senior – figure. In a statement, reported by BBC Monitoring, the channel said it had worked hard at finding out who was responsible for ordering the Amman-based uplink centre to take the channel down, […]

The head of Russia’s leading rocket-making organisation has resigned. Vladimir Nesterov, 63, is leaving the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, which manufactures Russia’s Proton rockets, after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev harshly criticised the industry. A Proton rocket failed earlier this month leaving two broadcasting satellites in useless orbit. Russia’s reputation, such as it […]

The privately owned New York Times has appointed BBC DG Mark Thompson as the President and CEO to lead them to the digital age. It is the kind of ‘outside the box’ thinking only a private company can try; no public company would reach so far from ‘the norm’. For, while Thompson may come from […]

The analysts and number-crunchers have looked at Sky Deutschland’s numbers and the consensus is overwhelmingly that the pay-TV broadcaster is pressing all the right buttons. Investment bankers Morgan Stanley comments are typical, saying the results (issued August 14th) “demonstrated growing consumer acceptance of pay TV in Germany with good growth in core pay TV and […]