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Burma to allow satellite dishes

The ‘Democratic Voice of Burma’ (DVB) web-site says that licences for satellite television receivers are likely to be issued again in Burma following a six-year ban claimed at the time by observers to be an attempt to control the flow of information into the country.   The notification came from communications minister Thein Htun after […]

October 20, 2011

India: Current pay-TV growth is ‘tip of iceberg’

Technology company NDS is now serving more than 20 million homes in India, representing more than 100 million viewers, with its encryption and middleware expertise. Dr Abe Peled, executive chairman of NDS, speaking exclusively to Advanced-Television.com from New Delhi where he was attending an event to celebrate the milestone, said the best part of the […]

October 19, 2011

SES and Kabel-D make bank’s Top 20

Satellite operator SES and German cable giant Kabel Deutschland both make Morgan Stanley’s stock pick of “20 for 2015” which the investment bank says helps identify those companies with long-term sustainable competitive advantages. KDG, says the bank’s report to investors, “is Germany’s largest cable TV operator (by revenues), Europe’s largest cable TV company and amongst […]

October 18, 2011

Discovery – and News Corp – criticised

Discovery Communications, one of the TV industry’s highest-regarded broadcasters, needs to make its corporate governance more transparent. Same with News Corp, says corporate research firm GMI Risk List, which regularly reports on quoted companies which have, in the view of GMI, “particular [risk] factors that may correlate with negative events,” said Kimberly Gladman, GMI’s Director […]

October 13, 2011

Netflix: The price is the point

It is easy (I find it particularly easy) to criticise businesses that seem to spend endless energy, time and money on consumer research and focus groups. As with bringing in consultants, it often seems mostly a way for management to avoid making the decisions it’s paid to make or, at the very least, to establish […]

October 12, 2011

ProSiebenSat.1: “5 Positives”

Pro7/Sat1 is Germany’s second-largest commercial broadcaster (after RTL) and in a fresh report from investment bank Morgan Stanley it seems the broadcaster is in much better shape than this time last year. Pro7/Sat1’s management is committed to paying investors “at least” 80 per cent of its underlying Earnings/Share in the future, which the bank translates […]

October 11, 2011

India gets tough for new channels

The past few months have seemed to herald a softer time for foreign channels trying to gain entry into India’s buoyant broadcasting market.  Not quite. New rules issued October7 by India’s powerful Information and Broadcasting Ministry has set high tariff rules for would-be broadcasters. The rules come with a message designed to deter non-serious applicants […]

October 10, 2011

Grim day for the BBC

The BBC is expected to lay off more than 2000 staffers as it adjusts to life with lower annual income.  The bottom line is that the BBC must slash its £3.5 billion ($5.4bn) budget by some 20 per cent in order to stay solvent.  The BBC employs some 18,000 staff in the UK, although grows […]

October 6, 2011

Mad decoder decision needs descrambling

The European Court of Justice decision on the Portsmouth pub’s right to tune into a Greek version of Premier League football meant a day of headline reactions (mainly over-reactions really), before, by nightfall, all had agreed the judgement needed very careful consideration.   The ECJ judgment said: “The Court of Justice holds that national legislation […]

October 4, 2011

SES loses satellite dispute

Luxembourg-based SES has been involved in a dispute with Lockheed Martin Space Systems involving millions of dollars, and specifically involving one of Lockheed’s A2100 satellites. While details are of the dispute are sketchy, SES bought two satellites from Lockheed, (SES Astra’s 1KR craft, and Astra 1L) and the argument involved the performance of a satellite […]

September 26, 2011