The official report of the July 2 Proton-M Russian rocket disaster has been identified as incorrectly fitted velocity sensors. Igor Volk, a ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ because of his experience as a cosmonaut, told reporters bluntly on August 8 that the designers and engineers must bear full responsibility for the catastrophe. Either way, the […]
DISH has blacked out Raycom Media for over a week, and CBS has been off Time Warner Cable for the past week, now DISH has called on Congress to update the local TV carriage rules and protect consumers. “Since the beginning of the year, Raycom has told its viewers to switch providers no fewer than […]
According to unconfirmed reports from Australia, both Eutelsat and SES have dropped out of the bidding to take control of Singapore Telecom’s Optus satellite unit. Intelsat is said to still be interested in acquiring the assets, while the other firm bidder is from a consortium led by Blackstone Group, TPG Capital and Malaysia’s MEASAT. Other […]
Sky Deutschland reported better than expected results (Q2) early on August 6th. Net subscriber growth was up a very healthy 47,000 to 3.453 million. Premium HDTV clients were up 83,000 to 1.697 million, while Sky+ subs were up 105,800 to 1.170 million. Sky’s Bundesliga coverage starts August 9th and this current quarter-year is expected to […]
US satellite TV broadcaster DISH Network has reported revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter ending June 30th 2013, compared to $3.57 billion for the corresponding period in 2012. Subscriber-related revenue increased 4.9 per cent to $3.46 billion from $3.30 billion in the year-ago period. Net loss attributable to DISH Network totalled $11 million for […]
Airtel Digital TV, one of a half-dozen competing broadcasters fighting for India’s DTH subscription loyalty, says its Q1 numbers grew 14.2 per cent year-on-year from 7.4 million this time last year to 8.452 million. Growth in the three months – when compared to Q4 – was 4.35 per cent from the 8.1 million at the […]
Russia’s Proton-M rocket will restart launches in September, according to the deputy head of the Russian Space Agency, Alexander Lopatin. A Proton-M rocket failed spectacularly on July 2nd forcing Russia to suspend launches while an investigation took place as to the cause of the failure. That investigation, while not yet made public, reportedly suggests that […]
GlobeCast and satellite operator Arabsat are offering new solutions for broadcasters seeking to distribute programming in North Africa. The collaboration will leverage GlobeCast’s teleport facilities, playout services, network, and knowledge of the broadcast market, particularly in North Africa, and services will be carried on Arabsat’s BADR satellite at 26 degrees east. The goal of this […]
Last week Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat revealed its end-of-year numbers and that it was buying Mexico-based SatMex in a deal worth more than $1.1 billion. CEO Michael de Rosen explained to financial analysts on the result’s conference call that Eutelsat was extremely keen to maintain its “investment grade” rating with the various Ratings Agencies. That […]
The Philippines DTH operator Global Satellite (GSAT) is taking a fourth transponder from SES on NSS-11 which transmits from 108.2 degrees East. GSAT is the satellite division of First United Broadcasting (FUBC) and has been on air since 2008 on satellite. The new capacity means GSAT will be transmitting 12 HD channels and 47 in […]