Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

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.

Nilesat facing censorship claims

    Egypt is getting tough with some contentious channels and, meanwhile, there’s some highly vocal Arab criticism that ordering channels off  Nilesat is directly linked to upcoming presidential elections in Egypt. ‘Not so’, implies Nilesat’s chief engineer Salah Hamza. “We have no formal regulator covering satellite transmission. There is no Ofcom, no FCC, no […]

November 2, 2010

SES maintains upward progress

SES says that all its revenue and core profit metrics are being maintained. Indeed, its year-on-year quarterly results are most impressive, with this latest quarter’s revenues up 11.4 per cent on 2009’s numbers. However, SES managed to exclude business from its ND Satcom subsidiary, which it sold earlier this week, in its 9-month results announcement […]

October 27, 2010

Ofcom’s YouView light is amber, not green

There have been plenty of headlines in the UK suggesting that Ofcom has “approved” YouView, the BBC-backed video-on-demand service. “Not so,” implies Tony Ballard, a media lawyer at Harbottle & Lewis. Ofcom has said that any investigation now would be “premature” because it was part of an emerging sector, its impact too unclear at this […]

October 19, 2010

‘Zombie’ satellite still a threat

Intelsat’s uncontrolled Galaxy-15 craft is still posing a threat to broadcasting satellites which are in its path. Galaxy-15 was probably affected by a solar flare back in April and cannot be controlled from the ground. It is drifting steadily – and predictably – along an orbital arc and while there is little chance of collision […]

October 19, 2010

BSkyB v the rest: will Sky’s clouds clear?

This Friday, October 22nd, BSkyB will unveil its Q1 results and a few hours later hold its AGM for the trading year that ended June 30th. It is also likely that James Murdoch, currently chairman of the broadcaster will comment on News Corp’s wish to take full ownership of BSkyB; News Corp currently holds 39.1 […]

October 18, 2010

Al Jazeera soccer jamming – “a prank”

  The soccer jamming squabble between Qatar’s Al Jazeera Sports and Jordanian broadcasting authorities has already stretched diplomatic relations between the two regions. Comments have bounced back and forth between the two nations, and there seems to be no doubt that the jamming occurred from within Jordanian territory. Now a local newspaper has suggested that […]

October 12, 2010

Al Jazeera ‘proof’ on Jordan on FIFA jamming

  The past few days have seen something of a tennis match of allegations and denials made over the illegal jamming of this past summer’s FIFA World Cup soccer matches for Arab viewers. Fans paid up to $150 for Al Jazeera Sport’s exclusive coverage of the tournament. However, many matches, including the final, were jammed […]

October 6, 2010

Inmarsat slips as Falcone cools

  London-based satellite operator Inmarsat is a global success story, but for the past year or two its share price has benefited from a perceived move towards consolidation by Philip Falcone, the US hedge-fund boss. His company, Harbinger Capital owns just under 30% of Inmarsat, and it had been thought that Falcone’s intentions were to […]

October 4, 2010

Russians plan Commercial space station

Having helped build up a generation of success and expertise from the existing International Space Station (ISS), the Russians want to go it alone and build the world’s first commercial space station. Russia’s Orbital Technologies and rocket company RSC Energia want to see their project in space by 2015-2016. An American venture, backed by Bigelow […]

September 30, 2010

‘Zombie’ craft may still interfere

Intelsat’s Galaxy 15 communications satellite, dubbed the “zombie satellite,” lost contact with its controllers in April but is stuck “on” and continues to transmit signals as its operators on Earth work to avoid potential interference with other nearby spacecraft.  Galaxy 15 passed Anik F2 without harm on Sept 9, which suggests that Intelsat’s engineers have […]

September 23, 2010