It’s American election time again. A few elections ago, Bill Clinton, then running for his first term, pinned up a notice in campaign HQ that read: “It’s the Economy, stupid!” The sign was to remind all there that whatever the hue and cry of the election, ultimately voters would pick who they thought was competent […]
“Our friends in the EU commission are telling us today that the telecoms industry is now mature, and that further funding needs are falling,” stated Giuseppe Viriglio, Vice President at trade organisation Eurospace, and a highly vocal critic of many of today’s European space policies, speaking at ESOA’s European Satellite Day in Brussels recently. “One […]
Investment bank Credit Suisse, in a note for investors, says that it remains positive on the long-term outlook for the satellite industry, and says it favours Paris-based Eutelsat as its “top pick” amongst operators. However, it also used its report to upgrade its rating on Luxembourg’s SES, from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Outperform’. The report also says […]
With a jury in place, the $2.3 billion Cablevision/Voom lawsuit against EchoStar/DISH got into its stride on Friday, with Voom’s lawyers arguing that the its all-HDTV service died because EchoStar reneged on a 15-year carriage agreement it had with Voom’s owners. EchoStar denies the allegation, and argued that its commitment to the agreement hinged on […]
Ray Dolby, the founder of Dolby Labs and famed for his work in noise reduction for film and sound technologies, is to receive the Charles S Schwartz Award from the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA). The award will be received by Dolby’s son David at a ceremony on November 1st in Los Angeles. Leon Silverman, president […]
Content piracy is often cited as the biggest threat to pay-TV and, by extension, the creative industries. Stopping it is the job of content security technologists and law enforcement. Comparisons are sometimes drawn with the drug trade – indeed, rights organisations sometimes claim the same organised criminals are involved and that by infringing an owner’s […]
It is a story that simply won’t go away, and is trotted out regularly. But perennial gossip about a possible merger between arch pay-TV rivals DirecTV and Dish Network was given added fuel by a comment made at Friday’s Goldman Sachs’ Communicopia Conference by DirecTV’s CEO Michael White deserve attention. White told analysts that consolidation […]
BSkyB may be just a few weeks away from launching its all-James Bond movie channel but one investment banker is marking down its longer-term view of BSkyB’s share price, saying that it is dropping its previous 650p target to 630p, as it “believes the [higher] valuation fails to reflect the challenges ahead”. Berenberg Capital Markets, […]
e.tv, a South African free-to-air broadcaster, has issued a writ against the country’s minister of communications, Mrs Dina Pule, arguing that the minister’s decision to award a set-top box control system contract for DTT reception is “unlawful, procedurally unfair, irrational and unreasonable”. The contract was awarded in May to the nation’s signal distribution company, Sentech. […]
Acclaimed movie director James Cameron admitted he was amazed by the quality of 3D-TV displayed at IBC last week. Speaking at a demo on the Dolby booth of the Dolby/Philips 3D joint-venture (which uses Dutch company Dimenco’s technology), he said “There is room for improvement but this already good enough for the consumer market, you […]