Luxembourg-base SES is already carrying more than 6230 satellite channels, some 18 per cent of the world’s total channels (35,000), and this year – if its forecasts are reasonably accurate – the operator will overtake Intelsat as the world’s largest satellite business measured by revenues. The reason is that Intelsat is very dependent on so-called […]

Let’s be clear. SES CEO Romain Bausch didn’t say “roll on 2015” as he delivered the satellite operator’s 2013 end of year numbers. But 2014 should see fewer satellite delays, a reinforced position in fast-developing markets, a new income stream from its O3b data and broadband constellation, and recent investment that starts to pay back. […]

UK cable giant Virgin Media has again incurred the wrath of London roads regulator Transport for London (TfL) by digging up 5 lanes of the hugely busy A316 arterial road into London ahead of the morning rush-hour. Virgin Media had permission to dig up one lane at a time and to carry out the works […]

The past few weeks have not been good for British pay-TV giant BSkyB. This week has seen BSkyB lose a Court battle with rival Virgin Media, and the growing success of arch-rival BT Sport is worrying for Sky. Fighting back against the threat posed by BT Sport has seen Sky start to secure a large […]

India’s Videocon d2h branded satellite broadcasting operation is aiming to quickly move into the Top 3 slot amongst India’s hugely competitive DTH broadcasters. Last year (2013) they achieved growth of 26-27 per cent, and taking their total subscriber base to more than 10 million. D2h’s CEO Anil Khera says that 2013 saw a 1TB set-top […]

Analysts at investment bank Berenberg say they expect satellite operator SES to announce positive full-year results on February 21st (to December 31st) but perhaps more importantly to announce an improved guidance for 2014’s numbers and beyond. Senior analyst Sarah Simon states that SES is a “top pick” for 2014, and headlines her note to clients […]

UK number-crunchers at Enders Analysis say that Sky Deutschland’s 400,000-450,000 net subscriber additions targeted by the pay-TV business this year “is realistic”. Indeed, Enders adds: “The €70-90 million EBITDA [official] guidance may be conservative”. “Without any direct competitor, Sky is rightly enhancing its all-in-one premium appeal. This supports ARPU growth and increases its distinctiveness compared […]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, so the saying goes. Charter and John Malone must be reflecting on that now. Comcast had – reportedly – been in detailed discussions with Charter as to which bits of Time Warner it would buy if the former’s bid for the latter was successful. Then, after a […]

This past weekend subscribers to Dubai-based OSN lost coverage of the English Premier League as well as other premium football matches. Initially OSN blamed a “technical issue”. But OSN is now firmly blaming supplier and rights holder Al Jazeera Sports (which now calls itself beIN Sports). Al Jazeera Media Network admits that it has changed […]

Satellite operator Eutelsat will unveil its H1 numbers on February 14th. While the operator’s numbers will be – as always – important, most analysts are anticipating more news and guidance on the January 30th announcement that Eutelsat had settled its long-running dispute with rival SES. Berenberg Bank, for example, expects “considerable focus” on the longer-term […]