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 upper part of New Zealand’s North Island is going dark, as far as analogue terrestrial TV is concerned, on November 30th. This includes the cities of Auckland, Northland and the region around the Bay of Plenty, and is the last part of New Zealand to switch to all-digital TV. According to local press reports […]
Dish TV’s founder and CEO Charlie Egren is again making a pitch that his pay-TV business should merge with arch-rival DirecTV. “There’s obviously a business case that [consolidation] makes a lot of sense in the satellite industry,” Ergen, the billionaire chairman and founder of Dish Network, told analysts on the company’s Q3 earnings call. “Whether […]
A proposed merger between two of India’s giant DTH players, Reliance Digital TV and Sun Direct has been called off. Reportedly the talks, only ever at a ‘preliminary stage’ broke down but there were differences over the valuation of the two businesses in regards to their eventual share of the merged company. The initial plans […]
The news that BT Sport had bid almost one billion pounds for a three-year deal to cover the Champions League and Europa League football, and creating yet another record for European pay-TV soccer coverage, shocked the industry. In the process, BT Sport has knocked BSkyB out of the game. By any measure this is a […]
The USA’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARP) is planning to attempt to rescue parts from retired orbiting satellites as part of its Project Phoenix. The DARPA scheme calls for a new satellite to be built with a remote-control arm in order to salvage useful components. DARPA has already identified about 140 satellites and is […]
Satellite operator SES unveils its latest Q3 numbers on November 8th, and there are worries amongst the investment community as to currently how profitable SES is. The problem is that if its Q3 numbers grow by about four per cent , a perfectly healthy number when compared with some of its rivals. However, if SES […]
Intelsat’s president/CEO Dave McGlade told analysts that as well as suffering a downturn in government and military business because of the USA’s tough “sequestration” expenditure rules (revenues down 10 per cent), it was also seeing growing bed debt problems. Increased competition from other satellite operators was also affecting business generally but especially in contracts from […]
Korea Telecom has sold two valuable satellites for a bargain price of $4.24 million, according to a statement made in South Korea’s parliament. The sales, to Europe*Star and to Hong Kong-based Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) could also be illegal, claimed opposition parliamentarians. The two satellites cost around $400 million to construct. The two satellites (Mugungwha […]
Jean-Marie Messier, once Chairman & CEO of Vivendi, is appealing to a French court to overturn a 2011 verdict that punished him with a 3-year suspended sentence and a €300,000 fine for embezzlement and deliberately misleading shareholders. The conviction followed on from his time at Compagnie Generale des Eaux during 1994 and the following 8 […]
Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat will deliver its Q1 numbers after the market shuts on October 29th, but most analysts expect a ‘steady as she goes’ report. Investment banker Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients, says candidly that ”very little happened in Q1” although that statement ignores the mid-September Tribunal decision to award key transmission […]
Macquarie explores KCOM sale
Court date set for Fubo’s antitrust lawsuit
Freeview: Nearly 23m TVs sold since 2014
SkyShowtime, Paramount ad sales partnership
ITV: Over 7m viewers for FA Cup semi-final
SES vs Intelsat C-band hearing postponed
BBC invests £6m into BBC Bitesize
Sport 24 to air Euro 2024 on airlines, cruise ships
UKTV Ventures partners with Elder
Virgin Media O2 helps to tackle e-waste