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 […]
IHS Research reports that US pay-TV subs are being lost to Netflix users and other OTT providers. This is always an eye catching headline in our sector, and I confidently predict it will rise close to the top of our most-read parade in coming days. However, like a lot of similar reports, it is a […]
The news from Unterföhring, near Munich, home of Sky Deutschland, was much, much better than expected. CEO Brian Sullivan, fresh from his annual holiday, used the clever device of delivering better results than the market forecast, and the old corporate mantra of under-promising and over-delivering has worked well for him and his team. While the […]
The consensus is that Sky Deutschland’s Q2 numbers, out August 14, will be solidly respectable and continue the gains of recent quarters. Investment banker Morgan Stanley reminds us that Q1’s numbers showed gross adds of 155,000 (net about 73,000) for the quarter-year, churn of some 10.8 per cent (annualised) and monthly ARPU of €31.76. For […]