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.
If the general comment that a ‘rising tide raises all boats’ is accepted then the opposite is also true, and on July 24th the tide absolutely went out for the world’s three major satellite stocks. SES had a terrible day, with its share price tumbling 8.16 per cent (€2.54) to €28.60, not helped by poor […]
Charlie Ergen’s lawyers will no doubt be back in action shortly. This time the argument will be with the powerful Federal Communications Commission and its chairman Tom Wheeler following his decision to reject a $3.3 billion ‘discount’ claimed by Dish Network over the recent AWS-3 wireless spectrum auctions. Dish Network paid for the spectrum gained […]
The head of New Mexico’s Spaceport Authority told a special US investigation committee that she was hoping Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic ‘SpaceShip Two’ sub-orbital space plane would start regular commercial flights next summer, but not before July. However, Christine Anderson added something of a sting in the tail of her answer by saying that […]
It was widely reported on July 12th that the BBC is to face tough external scrutiny, and perhaps a complete restructuring. The government is setting up a panel of eight advisors to look at how the BBC is funded, run and spends its huge licence fee income. Also included in the ‘Green Paper’ consultation document […]
A ‘war of words’ has broken out between Sky and BT, with Sky calling for BT’s ‘Openreach’ service be separated from the rest of the telco. Meanwhile, BT raised the level of rhetoric by claiming that Sky’s position in the UK is now “so dominant” that some sports bodies “wouldn’t even talk to us” over […]
Strong praise for SpaceX, France’s arch-rival rocket launching system, was not expected at a French parliamentary hearing on July 7th. Especially when the praise came in a comment from the head of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) launcher directorate, Gaele Winters. He told the French delegates that SpaceX had been an outstanding success. “Despite the […]
It is now clear that the rumoured Axel Springer ‘merger’ with German broadcaster Pro7-Sat.1 is “credible” in the words of investment bank Exane/BNP-Paribas. A note to investors on July 8th by the bank says that while the tie-up is hypothetical at this stage, they nevertheless take a look at what any such deal might mean. […]
Imagine this: Two out of the only three businesses which can launch your satellites are – in effect – wholly unavailable, and the third is booked up through to 2017. What do you do next? That’s the dilemma facing senior managers at Eutelsat, SES, Iridium, Orbcomm, Viasat, Spacecom/Amos of Israel, SkyPerfect/JSAT of Japan, Inmarsat/Arabsat and […]
The golden halo surrounding SpaceX is a little tarnished this week. It isn’t that the launch company has been without problems but somehow or other the passion – and transparency – of founder Elon Musk and his wish to ‘get things right’ have smoothed over any rough edges SpaceX might have had. But inevitably the […]
Al Jazeera America (AJA) seems to lurch from one crisis to another and is making far too much news itself, with executive staff changes and internal conflict as well as a long-running dispute with former Vice President Al Gore. Al Jazeera America’s latest problem is with pay-TV DTH broadcaster DirecTV. In a June 11th court […]
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