Advanced Television

UK Govt in corner on News Corp

  The attempt by News Corp to buy up the 61 per cent of BSkyB that it doesn’t own looks like being a win-win for two sets of participants: the lawyers, as always, and probably News Corp itself. Our rationale for this is that the British government has backed itself into a corner that will […]

January 12, 2011

Kuwait gets tough on illegal sat-channels

Kuwait is home to a number of satellite TV channels, many operating without a formal licence. Kuwait’s information ministry has ordered that these stations be immediately closed down.  BBC Monitoring is quoting Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda saying: “The decision aims to regularise the work of the satellite channels and curb abuses by some of them,” […]

January 11, 2011by Chris Forrester

Samara: Busy again?

Noah Samara, founder – and potentially rescuer – of bankrupt satellite pay-radio broadcaster Worldspace, is busy with another satellite venture. His name is specifically linked with a non-governmental organisation, and not-for-profit, ’Ahumanright.org’ (AHR). AHR, is based in Berlin, with (according to its website) ‘liaison’ offices in Boston (USA) and Silicon Valley. AHR’s raison d’être is […]

January 10, 2011

Pace tops up ARPU service offerings

In a series of major interviews with UK newspapers January 10, Pace CEO Neil Gaydon has revealed that he talked last week at CES with more than 100 companies about providing additional non-TV services to consumers. Pace’s recent acquisition of US-based broadband technology company 2Wire for £308 million is opening up new opportunities for bolting […]

January 10, 2011by Chris Forrester

CES 3D-TV, explosion or reality?

There have been a number of fascinating studies released to coincide with the giant CES show in Las Vegas, most of which say that more 3D content is needed, and perhaps a lowering of the retail prices for 3D displays. Panasonic looks set to confirm that it is entering the market with lower-cost and highly-specified […]

January 6, 2011by Chris Forrester

‘Zombie’ sat brought back to life

Intelsat’s troublesome Galaxy 15 satellite, which went AWOL back in May, has been brought back under control. Galaxy 15 – as had been hoped – rebooted itself automatically as it was designed to do once it had lost all its battery power. During the preceding seven months the craft had threatened dozens of other satellites […]

December 29, 2010

Eutelsat’s revolutionary KaSat launched

Eutelsat’s giant KaSat satellite was successfully launched from Kazakhstan on Dec 26th (at 21.51 GMT). The satellite was scheduled for separation from the rocket some 9 hours after lift-off. The Astrium-built satellite, weighing more than six tonnes, will then require some weeks of in-orbit testing ahead of going live for operational purposes. Kasat is unique […]

December 28, 2010

News Corp set to win BSkyB battle?

News Corp is set to get European Union approval to acquire the 61 per cent of BSkyB that it does not already own. Numerous reports refer to a source close to the application who says that News Corp’s absorption of BSkyB does not have a significant anti-competitive impact. The EU verdict will formally be given […]

December 20, 2010By Chris Forrester

Romania hits pay-TV saturation

Romania now has more than 80 per cent of its homes subscribing to pay-TV, representing some 5.8 millon subs. Yet there’s still massive competition in the marketplace helped by a national decision to postpone analogue switch-off to 2015, which has also delayed the adoption of DTT in the country and as a consequence helped boost […]

December 20, 2010By Chris Forrester

Prime Focus cracks Narnia 2D to 3D conversion

Visual effects house Prime Focus is justifiably taking plenty of credit for its latest 2D to 3D stereo conversion effort, Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The end result is demonstrable proof that its technology works, and a huge improvement over Clash of the Titans, a box-office 3D financial hit but critical disappointment […]

December 20, 2010By Chris Forrester