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Face it, Facebook’s not worth $95bn

Facebook has named the range for its impending IPO with a share price of $28-35. That’s an unusually wide range and targets a value between $85-95 billion; in other words a little caution has set in since talk of $100 billion+ and the chill is partly down to the surprise drop in profit YonY for […]

May 9, 2012

EchoStar hit by “solar array” problems

EchoStar has reported that three of its satellites suffered “solar array anomalies” during the first quarter of this year. The news, which emerged from an SEC filing, affected its EchoStar 6, 11 and 14 satellites. In addition its EchoStar 1 satellite, launched in December 1995, suffered a communications receiver anomaly. Although nothing is official, most […]

May 9, 2012

Eutelsat: Growth slowing down?

Eutelsat will unveil its Q3 numbers on May 10, and the satellite operator’s revenues are expected to be around €315 million (up about 6.5 per cent on last year). Eutelsat is expected to say that its planned ‘accelerated growth’ for this financial year (to June 30) is working according to plan. However, the market will […]

May 8, 2012

BSkyB numbers: “Mixed bag” or “Gaining Momentum”?

Two different views emerged following BSkyB’s May 2 set of numbers (for the 9 months to March 31st). You could take the Financial Times headline comment that Sky’s results represented a “mixed bag” for the broadcaster and quoted a US-based analyst who highlighted the “very low” net household additions and a Q2 of slower growth […]

May 3, 2012

Russia promises editorial freedom for TV

Russia’s outgoing president Dmitriy Medvedev has said that Russia’s new TV public service will be independent from the state. He also noted that some of the existing state-controlled TV channels should be either sold or “merged into the existing state structures”. Medvedev was speaking in an interview with six TV channels on April 26th – […]

May 1, 2012

US cities looking to ban dishes?

The city of Boston is seeking to ban satellite dishes that are fitted to the ‘front’,  that is the visible frontages, of homes especially in its downtown area.  It is the same in Philadelphia, and now other town councils are joining the objectors.  “We have blocks that look like NASA or Area 51,” said William […]

April 30, 2012

Hunt is prey and will fall

While the Leveson Inquiry singularly failed to hold Rupert Murdoch to account – why are these government inquiries so useless at cutting to the truth? – its fall out continues to poison the water in many wells. The latest individual to be dragged into the stinky stuff is Jeremy Hunt, the DCMS Secretary of State […]

April 27, 2012

Official: News Corp shareholders are powerless

When you don’t want the limelight, it seems like you just can’t shake it off. As more UK executives are arrested for bribing law enforcement and military officials, News Corps in America has had to suddenly, and arbitrarily, suspend the voting power of its foreign shareholders – holders that account for 36% of the stock. […]

April 20, 2012

Spacecom to buy from SS/Loral?

That a satellite operator should buy a new craft from a satellite manufacturer is hardly news. However, when it is Israel’s Spacecom, which is reportedly considering buying its next craft from Space Systems/Loral, then it is more important news. Israel’s state-owned manufacturer (Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI) is still a possible supplier, say reports. However, it […]

April 20, 2012

Hat trick result for Sky Deutschland

Investors loved the news that Sky Deutschland (Sky-D) had secured the next four seasons of satellite and cable coverage of Germany’s pay-TV bundesliga soccer rights. Early morning trading on Wednesday April 18 continued the Tuesday boost, which saw Sky-D’s share price rise more than 20 per cent. Deutsche Telekom gets nothing, nor does Al Jazeera. […]

April 18, 2012