Satellite News articles from May 2004

Satellite News archives from May 2004

Intelsat Draws Investor Interest.
May 3, 2004... Expectations that Intelsat would remain a long-term fixed satellite services (FSS) survivor may be worth reassessing in light of its recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that reveals talks have been held with prospective...

EchoStar Suffers Congressional Loss.
May 3, 2004... EchoStar Communications [DISH] was slapped with another stinging defeat in Washington, D.C., when a key House subcommittee marked up a bill to reauthorize the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) last week that would bar the company's...

New Skies Eyes Alternatives With Goldman Sachs.
May 3, 2004... By Paul Dykewicz, PBI Media LLC New Skies Satellites N.V. confirmed Friday that it was working with Goldman Sachs to consider its "alternatives" following the Dutch satellite operator's recent unsuccessful bid to acquire PanAmSat [SPOT]....

Spotlight: Connexion by Boeing Flies High In Asia.
May 3, 2004... Connexion by Boeing is finding strong interest in its proposed in-flight broadband service in Asia. The company was forced to look elsewhere for partners when major U.S. airlines reversed course about plans to invest in and deploy the...

NAB 2004: Get Big, Get Focused, And Think "IT".(National Association of Broadcasters)
May 3, 2004... By Robert Bell, World Teleport Association The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference is an unusual show for the satellite communications industry. Most attendees are focused on producing, broadcasting, managing content...

Satellite Gain From Cable Changes In Germany?(Kabel Deutschland)
May 3, 2004... Kabel Deutschland's (KDG) acquisition of three cable networks in North Rhine Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany could spell good news for the satellite pay-TV operator Premiere. KDG already offers some of Premiere's services to...

Eurovision Weighs Fiber Options.
May 3, 2004... Eurovision's new fiber network should not unduly affect its existing business with satellite operators. Indeed, the introduction of the terrestrial technology will be one of the main challenges facing the company this year, said Paolo Pusterla,...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.(Illustration)
May 3, 2004... Week of 4/23/04 - 4/29/04 Percentage Symbol April 29 Price One Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.79 6.5 ASIASAT TELECOM SAT 16.6 0.6...

XM Sustains Torrid Pace.(XM Satellite Radio Inc.)
May 10, 2004... Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio [XMSR] appears to be revving up its growth engine after announcing strong first-quarter results and several catalysts that could accelerate its already blistering pace. The company is leaving little...

DirecTV Builds Momentum.
May 10, 2004... DirecTV, the satellite TV services unit of The DirecTV Group [DTV], appears to be regaining the momentum it lost a few years when EchoStar Communications [DISH] became the fastest-growing satellite TV service in the United States. Now, the...

New Skies Looks Ripe For The Picking.
May 10, 2004... By Paul Dykewicz, PBI Media LLC The unspectacular first quarter financial results of New Skies Satellites N.V. [NSK] last week likely highlighted part of the reason why its CEO Dan Goldberg opted to hire premier Wall Street investment...

Spotlight: NATO Turns To Europe For Critical Services.(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
May 10, 2004... France, Italy and the United Kingdom will provide critical new satellitecommunications services jointly to NATO starting next year and continuing through 2019. The existing national Syracuse program in France, the Sicral program in Italy...

Broadcasting Trends Show Competition Ahead.
May 10, 2004... By Richard DalBello, Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association As the new president of Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), it is my great pleasure to write about some of the industries recent...

Viasat Confident Sub Numbers Will Increase.(Subscriber)
May 10, 2004... Viasat expects its number of pay-TV subscribers to really accelerate this year. The satellite pay-TV operator, which offers services in the Nordic region, already has close to 640,000 digital pay-TV subscribers but it also has been badly...

NDS Hopes To Conclude New DirecTV Deal.
May 10, 2004... NDS [NDS], which signed a deal with DirecTV in the first quarter of this year to supply Conditional Access (CA), anti-piracy measures, hopes to follow this up by concluding a further deal with the operator. NDS CFO Rick Medlock told...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.(Illustration)
May 10, 2004... Week of April 30 - May 6, 2004 Percentage 6-May One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.85 3.4 ASIASAT...

Will Consumers Give SBCA Clout?(Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association )
May 17, 2004... The satellite-broadcasting industry has found a potential political ally in the form of its rapidly growing customer base, said Richard DalBello, president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA). With key...

News Corp Shows Pattern With Sale.(Thomson media-services)
May 17, 2004... The sale announced last week of the set-top box (STB) manufacturing operations of Germantown, Md.-based Hughes Network Systems (HNS) by The DirecTV Group [DTV] included a long-term business deal with the buyer that significantly boosted the...

FCC Reviews Bond Requirement In Licensing Process.(Federal Communications Commission)
May 17, 2004... By Paul Dykewicz, PBI Media LLC Officials with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) International Bureau are declaring their shift to a first-come, first-served licensing policy from the former approach of using sometimes lengthy...

Spotlight: GlobeCast Seeks Starring Role At Cannes.
May 17, 2004... GlobeCast, a Paris-based satellite distribution company, is angling to play a leading role at the 57th Cannes Film Festival in France. The company's tailored services for international broadcasters have been featured during the festival,...

Quality, Youth, Control: Keys To Success.
May 17, 2004... By Jimmy Schaeffler At a recent conference hosted by a large telecom company in Shanghai, China, The Carmel Group was asked to deliver a presentation on the topic "Telecom/Internet in The Year 2009." The goal of the conference was to...

Satellite Pay-TV Nets Strong Regional Growth In Asia.
May 17, 2004... Asia is starting to show signs that it offers a fertile market for satellite television services. That was the view offered during a panel discussion about the Asian satellite TV market held in Paris last week during Euroconsult's "DTH World...

Investment Community Delivers Positive Message.
May 17, 2004... One of the main messages at last week's Euroconsult "DTH World Summit for Satellite TV Platforms & Channels" in Paris is that the investment community is keen to invest in satellite Direct-To-Home (DTH) businesses, despite the emergence of...

SES Americom Eyes HDTV With AMC-11.(High definition television)
May 24, 2004... CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla.--The AMC-11 telecommunications satellite successfully lifted into orbit May 19 onboard an Atlas IIAS rocket. The satellite should enhance Princeton, N.J.-based SES Americom's service to a number of top...

Mobile Launch Range Plan Advances.(Lockheed Martin Corp.)
May 24, 2004... Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] officials said the company recently completed an important milestone in proving its mobile launch range concept, an effort that could ultimately result in cost savings for the launch industry that, in theory, could...

ILS Roars To Fast Start In 2004.(International Launch Services)
May 24, 2004... By Paul Dykewicz, PBI Media, LLC International Launch Services (ILS), which markets the Atlas and Proton launch vehicles, is picking up the lion's share of commercial launches so far this year and putting further pressure on its rivals in...

Spotlight: GPS Enhances New Portable Video Game.(Global Positioning System)
May 24, 2004... A new interactive video game has been introduced that features an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) chipset. Gizmondo Europe Ltd., a business unit of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Tiger Telematics [TIGR], unveiled a GPS-enabled game called...

Satellite Radio: Winning The Competitive Skirmishes.
May 24, 2004... AM and FM radio owners had best start looking over their shoulders. The U.S.-dominated satellite radio industry has topped 2 million subscribers since Washington-based XM Satellite Radio's [XMSR] "soft" rollout in two markets during September...

Premiere and BSkyB Struggle Early In 2004.
May 24, 2004... Satellite pay-TV operators in Europe have had a tough first quarter in terms of picking up new subscribers. In two of Europe's biggest markets, Germany and the UK, both Premiere and BSkyB's numbers were below expectations. With cable operators...

Kingston Inmedia Ready To Exploit International Opportunities.
May 24, 2004... Kingston Inmedia believes having The Carlyle Group as its owners will lead to the company being able to derive greater revenues from international opportunities. The Carlyle Group acquired Kingston Inmedia from Kingston Communications for...

New Skies Steps Up Sales Talks.( New Skies Satellites)
May 31, 2004... An announcement about the sale of global satellite operator New Skies Satellites N.V. [NSK] to a private- equity firm appears to be only weeks away, and it could be followed not long thereafter by the sale of its much bigger rival Intelsat Ltd....

Boeing Defends Superbird's Status.
May 31, 2004... Officials at The Boeing Co. [BA] acknowledge the Superbird-6 satellite, built by its El Segundo, Calif.-based satellite-manufacturing team for Tokyobased Space Communications Corp., may have lost at least a full year of its design life after...

Feds May Decide Remote-Sensing Survivor.
May 31, 2004... By Paul Dykewicz, Senior Analyst/Senior Editor The U.S. government could be in the unusual position of picking which American-based, remote-sensing company vying for the second -- and apparently last -- NextView contract will become a...

Spotlight: GPS, DBS Are Featured Road-Trip Gadgets.
May 31, 2004... Al and Ed's Autosound, a mobile electronics and communications retailer with 29 stores in Southern California, has included two new satellite products in its "hot items" list for consumers to purchase. This summer, the featured satellite...

10 Thoughts About Issues, Trends And The Future.(Industry Overview)
May 31, 2004... By Mark R. Chartrand The quip "it is hard to predict, especially the future" has been attributed to baseball great Yogi Berra, movie kingpin Samuel Goldwyn and Danish physicist Niels Bohr. Whoever said it, it is certainly true of...

AsiaSat CEO Optimistic Despite Tough Conditions.(Peter Jackson )(Interview)
May 31, 2004... AsiaSat is a major player in the Asian satellite and communications landscape. The operator plays a key role in developing the growing broadcast and broadband markets in the region. It launched its AsiaSat 4 satellite last year, and it remains...