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.
SES has won a contract from Italian public broadcaster RAI to carry 4 of its HD channels on an Astra satellite from the SES ‘hot spot’ at 19. 2 degrees East. The deal is somewhat unexpected given that the channels are already available from arch-rival Eutelsat as part of its TivùSat ‘free-to-view platform. SES CCO […]
The satellite industry has been concerned over the past year or two by the threat of over-supply of capacity. The African continent is one case in point where satellite bandwidth prices are sluggish indicating a surplus of competition not only from an assortment of satellite providers but by the growing links provided by fibre. A […]
SES launched Astra 1A on December 11th 1988, twenty-five years ago. While it took a few weeks for the satellite to be tested in orbit, the launch represented the first high-power satellite over Europe to be able to broadcast DTH signals to small domestic dishes. The satellite’s signals covered most of Europe, and over the […]
The English Premier League (EPL) bosses must be rubbing their hands with glee, as will the club owners themselves at the thought of receiving millions extra for the sale of TV rights over the UK. Remember, there is a fundamental difference in the upcoming TV rights auction: a bidder can pitch for ALL the rights, […]
Two new studies have examined the prospects for High Throughput Satellites (HTS). Euroconsult and Northern Sky Research have both been busy examining the potential for HTS in all of its guises. According to Euroconsult’s latest report on HTS, 33 of these new craft will be launched between 2014 and 2016, a record high compared to […]
The long-awaited launch of SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket and its maiden flight of a commercial cargo in the shape of the SES-8 satellite was effected flawlessly at 17.41 Florida time on December 4. SES-8 was placed into its geostationary transfer orbit just 31 minutes after launch. The satellite will now be placed alongside the existing NSS-6 […]
SpaceX will make its third attempt to launch the SES-8 satellite during the evening of December 3rd. SpaceX says it has fully inspected the rocket’s engines and all “known rocket anomalies resolved,” according to SpaceX’s founder and CEO Elon Musk in a Twitter message. However, SpaceX has swapped out a gas generator that powered one […]
SpaceX’s third attempt to launch the SES-8 satellite could take place on the evening of December 2nd. The Thursday launch abort was blamed on oxygen being present in or near a component, but means that one of the rocket’s turbopump gas generators will need to be cleaned. SpaceX, in a statement said: “The rocket engines […]
SpaceX again scrubbed a planned launch of SES-8 on the evening of Thanksgiving Day, November 28th in what is turning out to be a nail-biting exercise and far from stress-free for all involved. SpaceX also cancelled a launch for the satellite three days earlier on November 25th. The blame was placed on a triple set […]
A report from banker Berenberg asks whether BT Sport can win BSkyB’s glittering prize, the upcoming auction for the English Premier League. “BT,” says the bank, “in buying exclusivity to UEFA’s Champions League and Europa League football coverage, has made a statement. While it is publicly happy to be seen as number two in the […]
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