Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Intelsat formal hearings commence

Judge Keith L. Phillips opened the formal hearings into Intelsat’s Chapter 11 exit plan. The process is scheduled to last about 10 days. Around 216 lawyers and observers attended the Zoom meeting for sessions which were described as “complex”. The court was told that more than 90 percent of claimants against the various Intelsat entities […]

December 7, 2021

Bank: Starlink worth $81bn

Investment bank Morgan Stanley says that its base case valuation for Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite low Earth orbiting constellation stands at $81 billion (€71.8bn). It backs up its thinking with assumptions of a longer-term 2040 position when the system can offer some 250 Gb/s per satellite of capacity of which 4.5 per cent is “saleable” […]

December 6, 2021

Antrix, Devas litigation rumbles on

The very long-running dispute between India’s ISRO Antrix commercial division and a (then) satellite agreement with Devas Multimedia, commenced in 2005, continues to very slowly process through various courts and administrations. In essence, Devas has been awarded $1.2 billion, plus interest, in compensation by an international tribunal. The latest chapter saw Antrix saying in a […]

December 3, 2021

Musk shares more on bankruptcy fear

Elon Musk’s SpaceX team postponed the planned December 1st launch of another batch of Starlink satellites for 24-hours until around 6pm (Florida time) on December 2nd. However, Musk was again Tweeting over his concerns about raising more capital and the potential risk of failure. “If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability […]

December 2, 2021

Bank looks at Covid winners & losers

A timely note to clients from investment bank BNPP/Exane looks at the potential media-related winners and losers impacted by the latest Covid variant. The bank says that while there are justifiable fears from the new variant, there will inevitably be media businesses that are impacted, some with good news, and others not so likely to […]

November 30, 2021

Indian government warns against Starlink

India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) has said that Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service is not licensed by India and the public should not subscribe to services. Local media says that Starlink Internet Services are already being advertised in the country. The DoT has also asked Starlink to comply with India’s regulatory framework for offering satellite-based […]

November 29, 2021

SES: “Intelsat board deeply conflicted”

SES, in a motion submitted to Intelsat’s bankruptcy court, alleges that Intelsat is continuing to “disregard” the role and importance on Intelsat US as the rightful recipient of the FCC’s C-band incentive payment of more than $4 billion (€3.55bn). The problem – which the bankruptcy court has yet to rule on – is the dozens […]

November 26, 2021

SES earns $1bn from FCC

SES says it has received validation from the FCC in regard to the satellite operator’s Phase I C-band clearing obligations. It means that SES will receive $1 billion (€0.89) in an incentive payment from the FCC during the next few months. There’s another almost certain $3 billion due to be paid by the end of […]

November 25, 2021

“A crescendo of concern” over crowded orbits

Quilty Analytics, in its latest quarterly ‘state of the industry’ report, quotes recognised satellite business leaders expressing their concerns on the risks to commercial space – and specifically LEO – and the launching of potentially tens of thousands of satellites. Quilty references three leading executives (Viasat’s Mark Dankberg, SES’s Steve Collar, and Steve Spengler, the […]

November 24, 2021

Analyst: Is Britbox in trouble?

Earlier this month ITV unveiled its Q3 numbers with analysts praising the broadcaster for a much stronger than expected advertising take up and anticipating an advertising increase of around 24 per cent by the end of the trading year. But Britbox, the ITV and BBC-backed OTT service, could be in trouble. Analysts from investment bank […]

November 23, 2021