News Analysis

Mountain View, Calif., Oct. 24, 2013--Video consumption across non-traditional devices such as tablets, smartphones, PCs and connected PCs evolved exponentially into a global phenomenon that is not restricted to a geographic area or a limited number of service providers.  With cable TV service providers offering more applications and interactive content, the rising adoption of IP by broadcasters and video service providers, and the growing consolidation among operators, the global IP video network management market benefited greatly, forecasted to reach US$ 442.4 million in 2017, from US$ 217.8 million in 2012.

London, UK, October 24, 2013--Viacom (US$749 million) will reap the highest revenues of any international channel  group in Europe in 2013, according to a new report from Digital TV Research.  Covering 225 international channels/networks from 11 groups, the TV Channel  Revenues in Europe report estimates that Viacom will be followed by Eurosport (US$ 651 million) and Discovery (US $620 million). 

London, UK, October 24, 2013--Broadband in Europe is doing  well.  5 of the top 10 ‘fastest’ markets worldwide are European, coverage is on a planned path (unlike many countries around the world) and many of the suppliers are showing useful financial stability and promise as revenues are increasing at least overall, according to new analysis from Poin Topic.

Saltaire, UK, Oct. 23, 2013 — Set-top boxes developer Pace plc is acquiring optical transport and access network solutions provider Aurora Networks for US$ 310 million in cash.

London, UK,  Oct. 18, 2013 — BSkyB showed strength across all its products during the first quarter of fiscal 2013 with plenty of highlights. During the first three months ended 30 September 2013, BSkyB snatched 800,000 new paid-for subscription products for a 50% year on year growth. Sky Broadband surpassed 5 million customers with 111,000 net new broadband customers added in the quarter, up 9% year on year, while triple play penetration rose to 36%, up 3 percentage points.

Brussels, Belgium, October 17, 2013 – With high-speed satellite broadband now available in all 28 EU countries, Europe today reached a major milestone in its drive to bridge the Digital Divide. The opportunity of broadband for all became a reality with the launch of satellite broadband services in the Baltics, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania being the last countries to be added to a network of service providers across Member States.

Ottawa, Canada,  October 16, 2013 – C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., a leading global provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, today announced financial results for its third quarter ending August 31, 2013.The company reported  a net profit of CDN $ 353,978 or 1.0 cent per share compared with results for the same period last year when there was a net profit of $65,625, or 0.2 cents per share. The working capital of the company increased by 27% to CDN $17,271,614 at August 31, 2013 compared to CDN $13,577,437 at August 31, 2012.

Betzdorf, Luxembourg, October 16, 2013 - SES S.A. operator of a global fleet of 54 communication satellites, has successfully placed a €500 million 5-year Euro bond. The bond, issued by SES Global Americas Holdings GP and guaranteed by SES S.A., was priced today with a coupon of 1.875% (Mid-Swap +73bp). SES is rated Baa2/BBB/BBB (all stable). Proceeds of issuance will be used to refinance existing debt.

Washington, DC, Oct. 16, 2013 — The biggest U.S. media companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule Aereo Inc., which provides broadcast signals to online viewers, as an illegal operation. Petitioners to the suit include — Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s NBCUniversal, CBS Corp. (CBS), Univision Communications Inc., the Public Broadcasting Service and station WNET, and Tribune Co. owned New York station WPIX — filed the petition on Friday with the court after litigation in lower courts failed to stop Aereo.

Rochelle Park, NJ – Oct. 10, 2013 – ORBCOMM Inc., a provider of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions, and Savi Technology, a provider of sensor-based analytics and radio-frequency identification (RFID) solutions, today announced a strategic relationship to provide advanced location-based monitoring solutions to government and commercial markets.