Barely a week goes by without someone suggesting that DVR manufacturer TiVo is about to be taken over. Assorted names have been mentioned, not least one or other of the EchoStar family of companies, in EchoStar’s case if only to bring the – now ended – IP litigation to an end. Other would-be ‘buyers’ have […]
Kenya is proving to be something of a graveyard for pay-TV operators. Just over two years ago it was GTV which went bust. Now it is Smart TV which has gone off air, with backers Next Generation Broadcasting having pulled out of the joint-venture with Transmex. GTV was a DTH player while Smart TV is […]
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), one of the world’s most important satellite builders, has been hit with a lawsuit alleging patent infringements. The plaintiff is ViaSat, a California-based satellite services operator best known for its WildBlue broadband-by-satellite businesses. The writ argues that SS/L used ViaSat-originated technologies in other satellites without ViaSat’s knowledge or approval. ViaSat says that […]
SES and Eutelsat, Europe’s two satellite giants, are again arguing over the size of their organisations. A few days ago Eutelsat proudly claimed it was now carrying more than 4,000 channels. Today (February 3rd), up pops a press release from SES reminding us that they are carrying more than ,5200 channels, of which more than […]
For the best part of 50 years, the International Telecommunications Union has employed a system whereby satellite operators logged their plans to occupy orbital slots with the ITU under a structured and open system of ‘filings’ in a Master Register. If there is more than one filing, then the applicants form an orderly queue under […]
Some readers might remember VOOM, an all-HDTV broadcasting system that was something of a pioneer in backing high-definition TV. It launched initially with 21 channels in 2003 on its own satellite (Rainbow-1). VOOM was backed by Charles ‘Chuck’ Dolan, but a split in the Cablevision boardroom and a row between various members of the Dolan […]
BSkyB has a cheeky habit of under-promising and over-delivering on its results. It isn’t such a bad habit, but often catches out the analysts. Sky’s half-year numbers, revealed on January 31st, declared 6 per cent revenue growth to £3.4 billion, EBITA growth up 16 per cent and Earnings per Share up 20 per cent. Hard […]
And so it comes to pass: Sky on the Internet and available to all UK broadband subscribers. Dishes have been in Sky’s DNA from day one and they will be around for a long time, but making Sky open to all is a major evolutionary moment for Sky, for pay-TV and for broadcasting as a […]
BSkyB unveils its Q2 numbers on January 31st, and most observers see continued progress for the broadcaster, although with net TV subscriber additions being somewhat less than this same time last year. Investment banker Morgan Stanley forecasts net TV subs growing by 69,000 (140,000 this time last year). This slower growth might also affect HD […]
The EBU has called on delegates at the World Radiocommunication Conference at the ITU in Geneva to draft a treaty to tackle the issue of ‘Satellite uplink jamming’ – basically when states block transmissions to prevent messages getting out, or unwelcome signals coming in. Satellite uplink jamming contravenes Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of […]