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.
Last week the John Malone-controlled pay-radio operator unveiled record subscriber numbers as well as its best churn figures (1.8 per cent/month) for the past 5 years. The results also coincided with CEO Mel Karmazin stepping down (he went officially on Feb 1st) and being replaced by interim CEO Jim Mayer, who has a hard act […]
Thailand’s Food & Drug Administration has sent warning letters to 33 satellite channels saying they must stop airing “exaggerated” advertisements. The channels must immediately stop airing the commercials, or else face fines and potentially imprisonment. 301 channels were officially licensed (mostly with straightforward renewals) only last week by Thailand’s National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission, although […]
This coming Thursday (February 7th) will see Eutelsat reveal its half-year numbers, and the consensus from the market is that a series of records will emerge for the satellite operator. Top line video revenues are expected to grow by 8.6 per cent to €438 million and helping drive overall revenues to €633 million. The situation […]
The Italian commercial TV market remains in a depressed state, and the upcoming General Election is not helping the advertising market, says a report from Morgan Stanley. “Last year [we] anticipated TV ad-spend to be down -3 per cent. It closed 2012 down -13 per cent.” The report says that La7 saw Net ad-revenues tumble […]
The USA’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is backing a competition which could lead to a satellite servicing and rescue project called Phoenix. The plan for the Phoenix satellite calls for a space vehicle fitted with a manoeuvrable arm to salvage satellites and components from retired or damaged satellites. The scheme calls for the […]
BSkyB will unveil its end-December core numbers this coming Thursday (January 31st) and the consensus is that the pre-Christmas quarter year’s trading will show record numbers. For example, investment banker Morgan Stanley forecasts that revenues will have grown 4.2 per cent to £1.779 billion helped by the September price rise. Over the course of the […]
Arabsat has contracted with an Astrium/Thales Alenia consortium to build its latest satellite, the first of its ‘6th Generation’ series. BADR-7 is being built jointly by Astrium, which will supply its Eurostar E3000 platform for the project, and Thales Alenia which will design and build the communications payload. Arianespace will launch the craft. The contract […]
Last week one firm of investment bankers advised clients to “Sell” their Eutelsat stock. This week a different set of advice comes from Morgan Stanley which highlights Eutelsat as one of its Top 5 media stock picks of the year, despite being a poor overall performer during 2012, and at one stage last year revising […]
Telenor’s Thor II has been retired and placed in a graveyard orbit about 350 kms higher than the normal geostationary operational height in a six-day operation which wrapped on January 10th. Thor II was launched on a Delta 11 rocket from Cape Canaveral in May 1997. It was the first satellite actually procured by Telenor […]
On January 8th, Eutelsat launched a demo Ultra-HDTV channel – the first full-time such channel anywhere on the planet. This step is but the first in what Berenberg Bank says represents a growing momentum building in Ultra-HDTV. “2012 was the year when we first heard noise about Super Hi-Vision or Ultra HDTV (UHDTV), the new […]
Sky Atlantic launching on Virgin TV
BBC reports 83m streams for Winter Games
Netflix makes £1m donation to NFTS
WBD sees record streaming audience for 2026 Winter Games
MultiChoice scraps annual DStv price rises
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MED.TV FAST channel on Rakuten TV
MPA appoints Disney’s Limouzin-Lamothe
Production Park receives expansion planning approval