Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.
The world’s ‘Big Three’ satellite operators (SES, Intelsat and Eutelsat) are all under pressure with their revenues and profit margins squeezed and anxieties over their ability to continue to stay relevant in a world where threats from broadband and data incomes threatened by a highly competitive market. SES has suffered badly, with a further 2.3 […]
The slew of “detained” senior Saudi Arabian officials named in a November 4th crackdown on alleged corruption contains many very well-known names in Arabic broadcasting. The news emerged via an official Saudi decree. The most senior media player of those named is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire behind Kingdom Holdings, and what is claimed […]
Another negative report on satellite operator SES has emerged from investment bank Berenberg. The bank downgraded its advice to investors from “Buy” to “Hold”, saying a combination of delayed satellite launches, satellite health issues and the termination of low-value added contracts means that – in the bank’s view – SES will not deliver meaningful growth […]
A comprehensive report from investment bank Exane/BNPP on the Future of UK TV presents a list of topics that make worrying reading for British commercial and pay-TV broadcasting. The bank’s report finds that (especially among younger consumers): TV continues to lose share of audience to online; and OTT providers are set to maintain strong growth. […]
OneWeb is a proposed mega-constellation of an initial 648 low-orbiting satellites designed to bring affordable broadband access to the whole planet. Eventually, OneWeb is planning a total of 4425 satellites in its fleet. Founder Greg Wyler, speaking last week before the USA’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Technology, said the first two test satellites […]
A 75-minute analyst call from Intelsat CEO Steve Spengler on Octber 26th covered all the operator’s bases, but the questioners kept returning to the vexed topic of Intelsat (and Intel’s) hopes to see some of Intelsat’s C-band frequencies over the US reallocated for 5G usage. The news that this revolutionary concept even exists has helped […]
Last week, Inside Satellite was specifically told by a representative of Avanti Communications that the London-based satellite operator would release its end-of-year numbers (to June 30th) no later than November. The company last week had suffered two days of heavy share trading which took Avanti’s share price to its lowest-ever value. However, in an after-hours […]
The week has been full of Netflix news: Impressive results and revenues up 30 per cent, an extra $1 billion in acquisition spend and plans from Nielsen that it will start measuring some Netflix viewing patterns. Of course, Netflix (and its rivals) know only too well what their actual consumption numbers are. As well as […]
A thought-provoking feature in Fortune magazine suggests that the world might be on the cusp of a new clutch of space pioneers. It says that the likes of Elon Musk (SpaceX), Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin rockets) as well as cash from Bill Gates (Microsoft), Google’s Sergey Brin and even Virgin’s Richard Branson could all […]
If ever there was a ‘bargain basement’ acquisition that could resonate well beyond the $75 million purchase price it is Eutelsat’s buying of Noorsat in a deal which closed on October 13th. Noorsat is a capacity re-seller, with some 30 transponders under overall contract at the Nilesat/Eutelsat ‘hot spot’ at 7/8 degrees West, but also […]
Research: Smartphones steering the future of in-car audio
WBD warms to Paramount offer
Eutelsat seeks €1.5bn refinancing
Survey: Sports viewing shifts to multi-format future
Research: Consumers losing hundreds to illegal streaming fraud
Kantar Media rebrands as Fifty5Blue
AudioUK appoints Baughen as CEO
Gracenote metadata to power Samsung content search
Report: Copper switch-off progresses unevenly across Europe
How to hedge streaming stocks with hard assets