A Zimbabwe bank doesn’t have sufficient foreign currency in order to pay South African-based Multichoice DTH broadcaster’s fees due from local subscribers. Steward Bank, itself a subsidiary of cellular telco Econet Wireless, admits that it has run out of US dollars, the official currency of Zimbabwe. In a statement, the bank said it was suspending […]
Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat is transmitting a FTA DTH bouquet using its BADR-4 satellite from its ‘hot spot’ at 26 degrees East. The bouquet’s channels are all in HD, and include BBC World News HD, France 24 Arabic HD, TV5 Monde Style HD — “as well as other HD exclusive channels with the best Free-To-Air viewing […]
July 10th saw Israel’s parliamentary Science & Technology committee discuss the planned replacement for the lost Amos-6 satellite, dubbed Amos-8. Spacecom, the owners of the Amos fleet, have invited international manufacturers to build Amos-8. The Israel parliamentary committee discussed whether it would fund part or all of the new satellite, and to what extent there […]
Pay-TV subscriptions for 522 operators reached 839 million in 2016 – or 87 per cent of the 959 million global subscribers. The top 50 operators accounted for two-thirds of the world’s pay-TV subscribers by end-2016. At that time, 15 operators had more than 10 million paying subscribers, according to the Global Pay TV Operator Databook […]
Cable and DTH distribution networks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have cancelled their carriage contracts with the London-based Al-Araby TV news channel. Al-Araby says, in a statement, that Dubai-based DTH operator OSN has ended its contract, as has Etisalat/E-Vision. “OSN and E-Vision have violated contracts signed with Al-Araby TV by stopping its broadcasts on […]
Satellite operator Intelsat concluded its latest refinancing step with a July 5th SEC filing explaining that it has swapped a series of borrowings worth some $1.5 billion and initially due for repayment in 2019. The new borrowings are not now due for repayment until 2025, but the interest rate is up 2.5 points, from 7.25 […]
Eutelsat says its Sales & Reservations Centre has booked almost 2,000 hours of coverage including ‘Occasional Use’ demands on three of its satellites, Eutelsat 10A, 16A and 12 West B to cover this year’s Tour de France cycle race. This is twice the demand from previous years. “For the first time ever there will be […]
Satellite operator SES says it has won a retransmission contract from Telekom Serbia to carry six TV channels and one radio station for Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS. The channels will be transmitted from Astra at 5 degrees East. The six RTS channels, RTS Satelit, RTS Život, RTS Drama, RTS Kolo, RTS Trezor, RTS Muzika and […]
Two aborted launch attempts are bound to raise heart-rates and blood pressure, but SpaceX successfully sent a giant Intelsat (I-35e) satellite on its way to orbit at its third launch attempt. The success meant a third launch for SpaceX in less than two weeks. SpaceX used an all-new rocket for the launch and the mission’s […]
The loss of SES-owned AMC-9 on June 17th because of its on-board problems at 83 degrees West, and even reports of the satellite’s breaking up, has meant major changes for SES’ clients. AMC-9’s transmission payload is inert so there is no danger of interference to other satellites in its path. According to a detailed report […]