Eutelsat has leased a ‘multi-year’ contract with ViaSat’s Brazilian subsidiary which will take the entire ‘High Throughput’ portion of Eutelsat’s 3B satellite due for launch in two weeks. Eutelsat 3B is scheduled to launch on May 26th. The agreement covers 5 steerable Ka-band beams which will all now focus on Brazil. “It is the first […]
ANGA COM – the exhibition for broadband, cable and satellite – has put together a panel of experts to discuss 4K UHDTV and how to make it a commercial reality. The panel will be an important part of the UHDTV debate at the event (May 20-22 in Cologne). The main focus of the panel will […]
An “agreement” signed between Egypt’s Radio & Television Union and Saudi Arabian satellite broadcaster MBC has been “cancelled” according to local reports in Egypt. However, Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehlib, is firmly denying that the Memorandum of Understanding has been scrubbed. The Memorandum of Understanding referred to was a signed protocol between ERTU and MBC, […]
Satellite operator SES saw its new president/CEO, Karim Michel Sabbagh make a keynote speech, one of his first opportunities to outline his vision for the company, and the broadcasting industry. Sabbagh was speaking at IDATE’s Digiworld event in Brussels on May 13th. Sabbagh explained that while satellite delivery of ‘one-to-many’ transmissions was a logical, and […]
Madrid-based satellite operator Hispasat has formed a joint-venture with Intelsat to operate Hispasat’s Amazonas-1 satellite for the next two years in order to provide better coverage of the upcoming FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games in 2016. Amazonas-1 has a fuel-supply problem which has trimmed its on-orbit lifetime from 15 years to nearer4 10 years. […]
Ten days ago it was the threat of US sanctions that caused extreme jitters for the satellite launch industry and their valuable cargoes. Now it is the Russians who are flexing their space muscle. Widespread reports on May 13th state that on June 1st Russia would ‘ban’ work on American-controlled satellite Earth Stations on Russian […]
AT&T is in advanced takeover talks with DirecTV, the largest US satellite-TV provider, in a deal worth about $50 billion. The two companies have been in on-off discussions for some time, but talks have progressed and a deal could now just be weeks away say US reports. DirecTV has a market value of $44.5 billion […]
London-based satellite operator Avanti Communications has reported a loss for its 9-month trading (to March 31st). Avanti says its revenues for the 9 months were just $39 million, and blamed the poor performance on continued delays in client capacity bookings. The poor revenue picture means that Avanti’s EBITDA position has worsened from a positive $1 […]
The Kiev-based One Plus One (1+1) TV station has been taken off the air in the Eastern portion of the Ukraine. The channel, now controlled by Igor Kolomoisky, was sold by Central European Media Enterprises (CME) back in 2010 for some $300 million. May 12th saw 1+1’s signal removed in the Donetsk region and replaced […]
Following weekend reports that BSkyB was seeking to create a pan-European pay-TV unit, the broadcaster has issued a Statement noting speculation about a potential acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s interests in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. In the Statement, BSkyB says it has a clear set of plans to grow its business in the UK […]