Advanced Television

DTH/Satellite

France Telecom for Digital Plus?

Speculation is increasingly mounting in Spain about France Telecom’s interest in acquiring Sogecable’s pay-TV unit, Digital Plus. The telco joins names such as Rupert Murdoch, Carlos Slim and Telefónica, among others, as being linked with the operation. Sogecable’s approach to France Telecom-controlled IPTV service Orange TV with the recent launch of a triple play offer, […]

August 14, 2008

New satellites for Europe

Mobile satellite systems use radio spectrum to provide services between a mobile earth station and one or more stations either in space or on the ground at fixed locations. They have the capability to cover a large territory and reach areas where such services were not economically viable before. The new European selection procedure could […]

August 11, 2008

DirecTV posts solid quarter

The outfit, of which Liberty Media owns a controlling interest, reported earnings of $455 million on second-quarter revenue of $4.8 billion. DirecTV's revenue jumped 16 per cent from the $4.1 billion it recorded in the second quarter of 2007, though quarterly profits grew only 2 per cent from the $448 million from a year ago. […]

August 11, 2008

Dish loses subs

Although the subscriber loss meant lower installation costs for Dish, which helped lift its second-quarter profit above expectations, analysts said that the customer loss boded ill for the company's growth prospects. Dish said it lost a net 25,000 subscribers during the second quarter. A year ago, Dish added 170,000 subscribers in the second quarter. The […]

August 11, 2008

SES reports H1

Analysts said the figures, following 2007-2008 numbers from Eutelsat last week, confirmed that the market was solid. SES nevertheless lowered its forecast for 2008 revenue to between E1.568 and E1.598 billion and for EBITDA to between E1.08 and E1.11 billion. Its previous forecasts were E1.58 to E1.62 billion and E1.086 to E1.126 billion

August 6, 2008

DISH Network Q2

Net income totalled $336 million for the quarter, compared with $224 million during the corresponding period in 2007. Basic earnings per share were $0.75 for the quarter, compared with basic earnings per share of $0.50 during the corresponding period in 2007. The service lost approximately 25,000 net subscribers, ending the quarter with approximately 13.79 million […]

August 6, 2008

Skywalkers return

“It has proved very successful and is a particularly good way of trying out new offers, because you get the most direct kind of customer feedback,” Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, told the Financial Times. The move harks back to Sky's earliest days when Sky Direct salesmen were crucial to the ';scorched earth' policy […]

August 4, 2008

DISH Network HD upgrade

This new functionality is part of DISH Network’s expansion in high definition services, which includes the rollout of TurboHD, the industry’s first 100 per cent, all-HD suite of programming packages. DISH Network has also launched 17 new national HD channels, surpassing its goal of reaching 100 national HD channels five months ahead of schedule. DISH […]

August 1, 2008

Satellite operators call for EU to guarantee services

Satellite communications play a key role in achieving Europe’s objectives. As the Chairman of ESOA and CEO of Eutelsat, Giuliano Berretta, explained, satellites are “an integral and indispensable part of everyday life whether we talk about TV or emergency communication, connectivity in villages, mountains, islands, in-flight and at sea”. The European Parliament is now debating […]

July 25, 2008

XM Satellite subs rise

XM Satellite Radio had added 322,000 new net subscribers in the second quarter and now has about 9.7 million. The total represents a 17 per In a preliminary report, the company said gross additions for the quarter included a record 857,000 gross new subscriptions for radios in automobiles. It marked 224,000 retail additions. XM forecast […]

July 24, 2008