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 […]

Seems a weird thing to wonder when Apple recently became the second biggest company on the Dow by stock value, but could this be the high water mark? Apple has out powered all contenders by repeating its trick of game-changing UI’s (remember the Apple Mac GUI that started the whole thing) and allying it with […]

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 […]

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 […]

  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 […]

  Here in the UK a band of rival media owners have written to the Business Secretary, the Lib Dem Vince Cable, urging him to intervene to stop News Corp taking full control of BSkyB should it proceed with its bid. The letter says News Corp ownership of Sky alongside its existing ownership of The […]

  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 […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]