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 SES vs Intelsat $1.8 billion dispute must have the lawyers on both sides rubbing their hands with glee. SES is suing Intelsat and alleging in its writ that Intelsat “betrayed its faithful contractual partner in a brazen attempt” to steal approximately $450 million. This case, alleges SES, will hold Intelsat accountable for its “unlawful […]
German commercial broadcasting giant ProSiebenSat.1 Media admitted at an investment bank conference last week that while its advertising revenues had picked up in November and thus making the October-November period to be broadly flat (compared with 2019) and December still had potential for a latish surge in advertising. However, as investment bank Berenberg said on […]
The International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (ITSO) comprises 149 member nations. The organisation is the holder of a United Nations mandate created in 1973 and was the forerunner of Intelsat. Intelsat was privatised in 2001 and ITSO’s mission is to monitor the performance of Intelsat’s public service obligations and to safeguard the Parties’ Common Heritage. Intelsat […]
Investment bank JP Morgan has issued strong “Overweight” advice on some US cable operators to its clients. The bank says that there’s a “spectrum of opportunity” for the pay-TV and broadband businesses. In particular, it cites Charter as warranting an “Overweight” rating and recognising the cable operator’s strength in broadband. The company is given a […]
Next week sees the start of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) auction of satellite C-band spectrum in the US. Satellite operators are in the process of clearing a total of 280 MHz of spectrum in the C-band (3.7-3.98 GHz) for repurposing for 5G use. Most observers expect the auction to generate billions of dollars to […]
A pair of detailed reports to clients from investment bank Berenberg makes for good reading for Eutelsat but delivered negative advice as to the state of prospects for arch-rival SES. As for Eutelsat, Berenberg’s analyst Robert Berg says that the satellite operator’s shares are “still cheap”. The bank’s note says: “We reiterate our ‘Buy’ rating […]
More details have now emerged on the merger between Ottawa-based Telesat and satellite builder (and shareholder in Telesat) Loral Space & Communications. Key to the long-expected merger solution is the role of Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP). Under the merger agreement PSP, Loral and Telesat Canada will each become subsidiaries of ‘new’ Telesat […]
A recent Eutelsat-organised Webinar heard comments from Rotana’s COO Michael Cairns. Asked in simple terms how Rotana saw its immediate challenges, he said that they had launched two new channels during the Covid crises (for Kids and Comedy) and the broadcaster had also supplied many of its programmes to OTT platforms (such as Shahid, OSN […]
Asia Times is reporting that China wants to dramatically boost the number of satellites in orbit while China Newsweek talks about a new enterprise, China Star Net, which will be formed and based in Shanghai. China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a state-owned enterprise, outlined its plans to preliminarily finish the construction of the […]
The news that Eutelsat is completely ending its already strained relationship with Viasat prompted one analyst to update clients on the position. Viasat will now own 100 per cent the Euro Broadband Infrastructure (EBI). Giles Thorne (media analyst at Jefferies) was blunt: “The curtain comes down on Viasat’s disastrous first steps into European broadband. Eutelsat […]
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PubMatic FAST ad partnership with Virgin Media