News Archive
DssCommunity's Top Five Favorite FTA Recievers -- Posted by soullezz
on Monday, November 27 2006
This is a current listing based on hardware, value, and user feedback.
Star Rating for each criteria is on a scale of 1 to 5.
1. ExtremeView Magnum xv3300
¤¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤¤¤
(best video quality / superior firmware updates)
2. Viewsat vs2000 Extreme
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(proven support / true hardware blindscan)
3. Neosat iPro 1000
¤¤¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤
(most flexable / state of the art / excellent back up unit)
4. Viewsat PVR 7000
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(sexiest chasis / coolest options)
5. Neusat SP 6000
¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤¤¤ | ¤¤¤
(best value / USB jumpdrive / best GUI)
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Editor's Note
NASA Auditions Robots for Lunar Exploration Missions -- Posted by soullezz
on Monday, November 27 2006
Arizona’s famous Meteor Crater is a long way from the Moon. But for a menagerie of intelligent robots hoping to earn supporting roles in NASA’s lunar exploration plans, the massive impact crater west of Flagstaff is center stage.
In September, several such robots and an autonomous Moon buggy called Scout were put through their paces in the rough desert terrain. During a two-week campaign conducted by NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies team — a collection of government, university and industry scientists and engineers known as the Desert Rats — the robots demonstrated their ability to work side-by-side with space-suited researchers, helping with the kinds of tasks that actual astronauts will have to perform as they begin exploring the Moon and establishing outposts.
NASA’s current expenditure on so-called robotic field assistants is fairly modest. Of the $3 billion NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate spent this year developing a new space transportation system and preparing for an eventual return to the Moon, only $13 million went to Human Robotics Systems, a recently established program meant to focus the agency’s investment in robotic helpmates.
Chris Culbert, the NASA Johnson Space Center engineer in charge of the Human Robotic Systems program, said his current stable of prototype field assistants consists almost entirely of robots inherited from various programs around the agency, some of which pre-dated President George W. Bush’s 2004 call for the United States to return to the Moon.
“There’s not enough money in this program and it hasn’t been around long enough to build up new robots,” Culbert said.
In addition to Scout, NASA’s current line up of field assistants includes a nimble six-legged rover called Athlete, a dexterous humanoid torso on wheels called Centaur, and K-10, a boxy little rover specially equipped for site survey work.
Culbert said all four robots help NASA in one way or another to address the three big themes of the Human Robotics Systems program: surface mobility, surface handling, and human-systems interaction.
“The interaction between robots and humans is very important to me,” Culbert said. “Industrial robots are typically behind barriers and big alarms ring if humans come within 10 feet. Our robots live with the humans.”
Athlete and Centaur, two of the robots that were used at Meteor Crater this fall, will be on display and demonstrated at NASA’s 2nd Exploration Conference being held Dec. 4-6 in Houston.
When Centaur rolls into the exhibit hall at the George C. Brown Convention Center, it will be a sort of homecoming for the wheeled robot’s humanoid half, a skilled construction worker formerly known as Robonaut. NASA originally developed Robonaut with an eye toward helping astronauts with tedious tasks like those they were encountering assembling the international space station. At the 2002 World Space Congress in Houston, a stationary Robonaut was on exhibit showing off its dexterity with hand tools. NASA officials present there talked about how Robonaut could one day help assemble very large aperture space telescopes in orbit.
Since mounting Robonaut on a wheeled platform and renaming him Centaur after the half man/half-horse of Greek mythology, NASA has devoted more attention to thinking about how the dexterous robot might help build and maintain outposts on the Moon. Culbert said a robot like Centaur might make an excellent lunar plumber, for example, tackling various pipefitting chores and freeing astronauts to concentrate on more important activities. But Centaur can also do grunt work. In the desert in September, Culbert said, the robot helped the stand-in astronauts unload the Scout rover.
Athlete got its start in late 2004 when NASA was spending relatively freely on human and robotic technology projects that supported a wide mix near and longer-term exploration goals.
NASA initially planned to spend $25 million on Athlete over four years. But after NASA Administrator Mike Griffin took over in early 2005 and decided the agency could not afford the $1 billion-a-year technology portfolio his predecessor had set in motion, all but 38 of the original 118 competitively-selected projects were canceled. Athlete made the cut, but had its funding reduced substantially. After receiving $3 million in its first year, Athlete’s funding was paired back to $1.5 million.
Brian Wilcox, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-based principle investigator for Athlete, said the funding reduction ruled out building a high-fidelity prototype out of mission-grade components as the team originally proposed. But the team has managed to build three somewhat lower fidelity Athlete prototypes, including two fully-functional vehicles, from commercially-available components. The semi-autonomous rovers run software brought over from the Mars Exploration Rover program.
Wilcox said Athlete is first and foremost a versatile cargo vehicle that has demonstrated its ability to tackle a wide range of tasks and terrain challenges, including climbing hills and rappelling into ravines.
Athlete also would make a great set of landing legs for NASA’s next human lunar lander, Wilcox said. “We have been promoting the concept that Athlete would make superb landing legs for the [Lunar Surface Access Module],” he said. “It would give the first lander superb mobility as well as a general purpose manipulator, so it would have the ability to do self maintenance.”
What the future holds for Athlete and the rest of its robotic brethren depends in part on how NASA’s lunar exploration plans take shape in the years ahead. NASA is due to release its first stab at a lunar surface architecture during the Exploration Conference in Houston.
Culbert said NASA has more work to do before it can say whether six-legged rovers like Athlete are the answer to its lunar surface mobility needs, or if a “simple flatbed truck” approach might be a better way to go. “We may find out outpost on the Moon doesn’t require a lot of climbing up and down hills,” he said.
To help answer these questions, Culbert and his team plan to keep building robots and putting them through their paces. But he admits that these important early efforts are for the time being rather resource constrained.
“With the amount of money I’ve got available I won’t be able to do everything that needs to be done,” he said.
NASA hopes to spend more money on Human Robotic Systems in the years ahead. NASA’s 2007 budget request, still awaiting approval from Congress, includes $18 million for Culbert and the team of 40 or so civil servants and contractor personnel spread across the agency. NASA’s most recent five-year-plan forecast ramping the program up to $25 billion a year by 2011, but Culbert admitted that might be a tough sell given some of the other pressures on the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate’s budget.
If additional money is forthcoming, Culbert said the program would like to build a new moon buggy next year equipped with an active suspension system tuned to handle tougher terrain. Human Robotic Systems group may also build a crane in 2007 and possibly add it to one of the Athlete rovers.
as seen on space.com
EchoStar's Efforts for Election Coverage -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 23 2006
EchoStar Communications' subsidiary EchoStar Fixed Satellite Services Corporation (EFSSC) provided satellite capacity and monitoring services on 25 Ku-band transponders to both ABC-TV and CBS-TV for election coverage earlier this month.
Company executives said they were "extremely pleased" to begin business relationships with the broadcast networks on the company's fixed-satellite products. EchoStar EVP Michael Kelly said the company was able to successfully tailor a satellite solution to fit the networks' needs throughout the election.
EFSSC owns and/or leases 14 in-orbit satellites operating in FSS Ku-band and Ka-band. The company operates a fiber optic network with 168 points of presence across the country with seven regional gateways for end-to-end connectivity. EchoStar said its platform can securely distribute video and data throughout the U.S. and internationally.
ITV Rejects NTLI's Takeover Bid -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 23 2006
Britain's largest commercial broadcaster rejected an $8.9 billion takeover offer from U.K. cable operator NTL this week saying the proposed deal made little strategic sense and undervalued the business. NTL was hoping the deal would enable the cable operator to bolster its product offering to include broadband, fixed-line and mobile services in addition to its television service.
According to the companies, NTL offered $2.31 per share in cash and stock for ITV that included $1.99 in cash and new shares worth 32 cents each for a total of $8.9 billion. But, as earlier covered in SkyREPORT, British pay-TV giant BSkyB shook up NTL's plans to acquire ITV when it bought nearly 18 percent of the company earlier this week. With the purchase (at $2.55 per share), News Corp.-backed BSkyB became ITV's largest shareholder.
Despite the recent turn of events, some industry analysts said they believed the deal making is completely over. "Although NTL has few options left in partnering with ITV, we are not convinced that NTL has exhausted all its options," said Oppenheimer and Co.'s Thomas Eagan, "NTL is likely hoping that Ofcom's investigations reveal that BSkyB's recent purchase of ITV shares triggers a change in control and that a 'public interest' test should be performed."
Press reports said NTL's largest shareholder - Sir Richard Branson - accused BSkyB of trashing any chance of a deal by snatching up the large share of ITV stock. In addition, the Office of Communications - the U.K. agency responsible for regulating communications - asked BSkyB for more details about its intentions regarding the ITV move.
Eagan said in light of the latest news, he still prefers a partnership for NTL with RTL's (Germany's largest commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite) Channel 5. "Plan B for both NTL and RTL could be some sort of joint venture combining RTL's Channel 5, a smaller U.K. broadcaster, and NTL's content assets which include Flextech, their 50 percent stake in UKTV and Sit up TV, all of which we value at $2 billion," he said. "Since these assets are closer in size, this venture could be publicly spun off and create value for NTL."
DIRECTV Will Carry HD NFLN Games -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 23 2006
This week DIRECTV said it will carry the NFL Network's 2006 regular season games in high-def starting with the Thanksgiving day broadcast of the match up between Kansas City (6-4) and Denver (7-3). The nation's largest satellite provider said viewers would not need a subscription to its NFL Sunday Ticket to receive the high-def feed.
Despite the fact that DIRECTV doesn't carry NFL Network HD, company executives said the contests will air on its channel reserved for special HD events - channel 95.
The NFL Network received the rights to a total of eight games this year, beginning with the AFC West rivalry game this Thursday. As part of the all-football all-the-time channel's "Run Up to the Playoffs," the net will be airing four more Thursday games and three on Saturday nights.
Games slated for NFL Network's national package are: Ravens vs. Bengals (Nov. 30), Browns vs. Steelers (Dec. 7), 49ers vs. Seahawks (Dec. 14), Cowboys vs. Falcons (Dec. 16), Vikings vs. Packers (Dec. 21), Chiefs vs. Raiders (Dec. 23) and Giants vs. Redskins (Dec. 30). According to the company, these games will be shown on NFL Network HD and the net's non-HD channel.
Intelsat Reports 3Q06 Results -- Posted by soullezz
on Wednesday, November 15 2006
Just a few short months ago, fixed satellite service provider Intelsat acquired PanAmSat Holdings and renamed the company Intelsat Holding Corporation. With third quarter revenues topping $528 million, the new-look Intelsat said the company's results show the July acquisition and the companies' integration are on schedule.
Intelsat reported revenue of $528.5 million and a net loss of $172.5 million for the period ending Sept. 30. According to the company, the loss reflects the impact of an asset impairment charge of $49 million to write down the net book value of one of Intelsat's satellites that experienced an "anomaly" last month. The company also attributed some of the loss to the restructuring costs of about $20 million related to the PanAmSat deal.
For the nine months ending in September, Intelsat reported revenue of $1.1 billion and a net loss of $305.4 million. The company has also generated free cash flow from operations of $175.3 million during the first nine months of 2006.
Looking to the future, Intelsat with respect to its PanAmSat deal, the company expects to realize about $92 million in annual net operating cost savings by the end of 2008. To make this happen, Intelsat said it will incur about $180 million in one time expenditures. The company also said approximately 60 percent of the integration costs are expected to be incurred this year, with "substantially all of the balance in 2007."
TiVo Bombards Industry with Announcements -- Posted by soullezz
on Wednesday, November 15 2006
DVR pioneer TiVo unleashed a barrage of announcements detailing the company's new comprehensive broadband strategy aimed at giving consumers even greater control over their television choices. Through the unveiling of the company's plan, TiVo is looking to make broadband-delivered video to the TV as simple a process as possible.
Unified Search -- Set to launch next year, TiVo's unified search function allows consumers to search across broadcast, cable and broadcast content sources through a seamless application integrating all video for easy access, menuing, searching, recording and viewing. Unified search will let consumers wanting content from different sources to be found all in one place - the TiVo "Now Playing" list.
ICM -- As broadband expands the options of viewers, the company said celebrity talent has become critical search criteria for finding programming. Through a new partnership between TiVo and talent agency International Creative Management, subscribers will be able to receive TV show and film recommendations personally selected by well-known Hollywood actors and directors and have the content recorded automatically on their TiVo boxes.
Home Movies Service -- Working in tandem with One True Media, TiVo is now offering a new service feature providing friends and families spread across the country with a new way to share their home videos by sending them directly to a television set. Rather than burning and mailing DVDs, or viewing videos uploaded on a computer, recipients will now be able to set up their own private channel to send home videos directly to a subscriber's TV.
Autotranscode -- TiVo subs who upgrade to this new PC software will be able to easily browse, transfer, and watch a vast amount of web video on their televisions. According to the company, even if the content is not originally in a format that televisions can display, the autotranscoder will convert the video through the PC for viewing on the TV.
Service Programming Partners -- The DVR company signed a group of media companies, like CBS Interactive, to deliver original programming created for the web directly to televisions through the TiVoCast service. Other companies involved in the partnership for broadband content include Reuters, Forbes, dLife, Plum TV and Nano.
DIRECTV Defends Sunday Ticket Exclusivity -- Posted by soullezz
on Wednesday, November 15 2006
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, led by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), called a last-minute hearing yesterday to investigate whether DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket violates antitrust laws. Titled, "Competition in Sports Programming and Broadcasting: Are Consumers Winning?" executives from DIRECTV and the NFL Network testified before the committee saying the groups' exclusive deal is a regulatory touchdown.
With DIRECTV having its exclusive deal with the National Football League for the package of games, cable operators have long complained that the arrangement gives the nation's largest satellite provider an unfair advantage over its competition.
According to DIRECTV EVP Daniel Fawcett, Congress approved the 1992 Cable Act with the intentions of kickstarting competition in the video marketplace. "Congress recognized that new entrants need programming to survive, and that incumbent cable operators had sufficient market power to 'kill competition' by withholding vertically integrated programming," he said. "But it also recognized the value of exclusives - especially when used by new entrants to differentiate themselves from their incumbent competitors."
The exec also said that the same was not true for cable, as evidenced by their regional consolidation and efforts to keep program access harming the competitive landscape. Cable companies "have used the 'terrestrial loophole' to deny vertically integrated programming to their satellite competitors in places like Philadelphia and San Diego... (and) imposed substantial arbitrary price increases for home team sports in Chicago," Fawcett said.
Time Warner Cable's COO Landel Hobbs said the answer to Congress' initial question of whether consumers benefit from the arrangement was both yes and no. Yes, because fans are getting more programming than ever before; no, because of a two-pronged trend that the cable giant has had to deal with during the last few years.
"The first is rising costs," Hobbs said, which are making their mark on "every level of the sports food chain, from the constantly increasing player salaries to the ever-rising prices for television rights." This, he said, is the problem because, "of course, it is consumers who pay the bills." The second issue Hobbs detailed is the "ever-increasing fragmentation of television sports rights" including "the proliferation of channels devoted to, and often owned by, individual teams."
Hobbs went on to testify "that existing government policies provide certain specific benefits to sports leagues, most notably certain exemptions from the antitrust laws." He said it was "important that policy-makers ensure that these exemptions are not reducing competition among sports teams, contributing to the escalation in prices to consumers, or reducing the viewing options consumers may have."
WorldSpace Reports 3Q06 Results -- Posted by soullezz
on Friday, November 10 2006
The third largest satellite radio provider is the third satellite radio company to report third quarter results in the satellite radio sector. With a 136 percent subscriber base increase over 3Q05, WorldSpace Satellite Radio is trying to show that the company is anything but a third-rate show.
According to the company's results, WorldSpace added 16,866 net subscribers during the three months ending in September for a total of 176,831 customers. In India the company added 18,568 net subscribers during the period ending with 138,065 customers, 287 percent higher than the third quarter of 2005.
For the quarter, WorldSpace reported revenues of about $3.3 million - a 42 percent increase year-over-year - with subscription revenue growing by 89 percent to $1.8 million. The company also experienced a net loss of $28.9 million, or 77 cents per share, during the quarter. The loss improved 21 percent from second quarter 2006 results due to an increased income tax benefit, the company said.
During the quarter, WorldSpace announced a series of content and business highlights including an exclusive broadcast deal with ESPN STAR Sports to provide live audio coverage of more than 200 days of cricket. The company also expanded its branded line-up of specialty programming with the launch of "Falak," India's first exclusively 24-hour Urdu Channel and signed an agreement with CNBC Arabiya.
DIRECTV: Open Season on DISH Subs -- Posted by soullezz
on Friday, November 10 2006
With EchoStar's slimming chances of getting congressional assistance for its Dec. 1 distant network shutdown, rival DIRECTV is trying to make the company's misfortune into a subscriber-poaching opportunity. In what some are calling a pre-emptive strike, DIRECTV is reaching out to DISH Network subs that will be affected by the blackout by offering an alternative for satellite TV, a free upgrade package and even cold hard cash.
Earlier this week, DIRECTV issued a statement reminding customers and the press that DISH had been found guilty of violating federal law and was ordered to cease broadcasting its distant nets. The solution, DIRECTV said, is to switch satellite providers and receive a free DVR upgrade, no start-up costs, next-day installation and $150.
The DIRECTV-issued statement listed five things that every consumer should know about DISH's injunction saying that "very few customers will actually be affected" and that those who are "won't be overly inconvenienced (and) will have more than once choice of (television) provider." Not only is DIRECTV offering the sweetened deal to any subscriber making the switch, the country's largest satellite provider also hinted that local cable companies would be an option for DISH subs looking to jump ship.
"This situation is a direct result of EchoStar's own doing," DIRECTV said. "But the fact is that this was created because EchoStar has been violating the law for years." According to DIRECTV, the U.S. Court of Appeals said it had found "no indication that EchoStar was ever interested in complying" with the law.
After Tuesday's election and the Democrats winning control of both the House and Senate, industry analysts believe EchoStar's chances that Congress will intervene have taken a back seat. Attempts to reach EchoStar for comment remained unanswered as of press time today.
TerreStar Chooses Arianespace for Launch -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 9 2006
In what will be the largest commercial communications satellite ever launched, Arianespace and North American mobile communications operator TerreStar Networks signed a "launch on demand" agreement for the company's latest satellite, the TerreStar I.
According to the companies, a "launch on demand" contract is an industry first which provides for up to three dedicated launch vehicles and entitles TerreStar to a launch window for TerreStar I, commencing November 2007. The contract includes options for two additional launch vehicles, which TerreStar may assign to affiliates for operations in Europe or elsewhere.
TerreStar I is under construction by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) in Palo Alto, Calif. and will be the 33rd platform built by the company to be launched by Arianespace. The new satellite will offer up to 500 spotbeams and a design life exceeding 15 years, the company said.
TerreStar I will be launched into geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. TerreStar Networks is a subsidiary of Motient Corporation.
Iridium's 3Q Numbers Look to Next-Generation -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 9 2006
Commercial satellite solutions provider Iridium Satellite reported third quarter results this week with seven consecutive periods of profitability and an eye towards its next generation network. The company said it is running the world's largest commercial mobile satellite communications network and is looking to maintain its momentum and ensure a smooth transition to its new constellation.
At the end of September, Iridium posted total revenues of $159.3 million with about 169,000 worldwide subscribers - roughly a 19 percent increase year-over-year from 137,500. The company's total revenue for the quarter was $54.7 million with commercial service revenue comprising nearly 70 percent of its total.
Iridium said it is working with several entities to design a new IP-based, end-to-end system constellation to increase available bandwidth, support multiple devices and drive down costs. The company also said demand for its data services increased 44 percent over the same period last year.
Sirius Still Seeing Profitability Signs -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 9 2006
With Sirius Satellite Radio reporting strong third quarter results this week, the company is looking forward to the holiday push to achieve its first-ever positive free cash flow period. The dog-star radio company increased its revenue by 150 percent year-over-year to $167.1 million for 3Q06 - and a strong fourth quarter may help drive Sirius to profitability by year's end.
The increase in revenues, Sirius said, reflects the strong number of subscriber additions the company acquired during the three months ending in September. At the end of the quarter, Sirius had 5.119 million customers, with 441,101 new subscribers added during the period - a 23 percent increase over the third quarter last year. The company's subscriber total is 135 percent above 3Q05 totals while SAC dropped 23 percent year-over-year.
The company's results, said Bernstein Research's Craig Moffett, mirrors XM's in that the satellite radio sector is still marred by negative sentiment yet the numbers reflect an absence of disappointments. Sirius' 3Q is better than "not bad," the analyst said, as the company "gratifyingly" retained all prior guidance - especially the "all-important" subscriber forecast of 6.3 million year-end subs.
"With their release coming five weeks into the fourth quarter, and with retail inventories already in place for the holiday selling season, their affirmation of year-end guidance (which requires a 1.2M subscriber gain in Q4) is likely to be a welcome sign that the fourth quarter is already off to a strong start," Moffett said. "This is likely to fortify the confidence of investors in both Sirius and XM."
But before investors roll out the red carpet for satellite radio, the industry is not "out of the woods yet," he said. Sirius faces rising churn because its OEM channel is growing so rapidly and the company has yet to anniversary a significant number of those subscribers exiting promotional periods. The company's two percent churn (compared to the 1.8 Bernstein forecast) "was a rare weak spot" in Sirius' reporting.
DIRECTV Reports Mixed 3Q Results -- Posted by soullezz
on Thursday, November 9 2006
The country's largest satellite TV provider reported third quarter results mostly inline with analyst estimates. But a worse-than-expected churn rate and weak subscriber growth numbers are keeping investors uncertain about DIRECTV's overall performance.
DIRECTV added one million gross subscribers during the third period (down 9 percent year-over-year) which is a reflection - we're told - on the company's continued efforts to focus on quality vs. quantity. But the flip side to that strategy, Bernstein Research's Craig Moffett said, is that churn remains a problem at 1.8 percent. Similar to the company's rival DISH, higher churn contributes directly to higher costs and activity levels without contributing to growth or value creation, he said.
As a result of the higher-than-expected churn, net subscriber additions were just 165,000 - 25 percent below consensus estimates of 220,000, Moffett said. Also, gross addition yield of 16.4 percent remains near the company's all-time lows.
DIRECTV's revenues did increase 13 percent to $3.67 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $894 million compared to last year's third quarter. The company reported also 3Q net income more than tripled to $370 million year-over-year.
"Strikingly, DIRECTV's total net sub growth is actually lower than the net adds reported by its three RBOC partners," Moffett said, which implies one of two things. "Either the majority of net adds reported by the telcos do not represent new sub growth, i.e. they are simply current DIRECTV subs who opted to consolidate wireline voice and video into one bill (for a discount), or DIRECTV may actually be losing subscribers in aggregate in non-telco channels or regions."
Either way, the analyst said, it's clear that the telcos continue to be a crucial distribution channel for the company. Building networks of their own, Moffett said of telco competition, "are therefore particularly troubling for DIRECTV.
DIRECTV's CD USA Goes Vegas For New Year -- Posted by soullezz
on Monday, November 6 2006
Forget the ball drop in Times Square this year, because DIRECTV's weekly music show CD USA is heading to Las Vegas for a New Year's celebration of glitter, glamour and rock 'n roll. On Dec. 31, a handful of headline music acts will take over the famous Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas for "America's Party," a live, nationally televised extravaganza.
The four-hour program will air exclusively on DIRECTV's CD USA (channel 101) starting at 8 p.m. PT with a lineup that includes live performances from Five for Fighting, All-American Rejects, Rockstar's SuperNova, Smash Mouth, OK Go and Chicago. Each year, hundreds of thousands gather in Vegas for the New Year's Eve celebration that has come to be known as America's Party with activities throughout the entire city. In addition to DIRECTV's CD USA live broadcast, this year's celebration includes a pyrotechnic display launched from nine rooftops on the Las Vegas strip.
DIRECTV said that traditional New Year's celebrations have focused on New York City which left millions of people on the west coast out in the cold. As the New Year coverage ended on the east, westerners were just getting started. This event, the company said, will help the entire country ring in the New Year together.
BSkyB's Big Broadband Base -- Posted by soullezz
on Monday, November 6 2006
It could be a transforming year ahead for British Sky Broadcasting as the U.K. media company tries its hand at some new products and technologies. With BSkyB rolling out HDTV, broadband and voice services, analysts are saying the company will benefit from the new services because the strategic moves will keep it out in front of its cable competition.
Last week BSkyB reported largely positive first quarter results with one million registrations for its new broadband service which, Oppenheimer's Thomas Eagan said is a very strong indicator of consumer interest. The analyst said 74,000 of those were connected to the broadband service - 88 percent of which were coming from Sky's subscriber base.
"Despite heightened competitive pressures, we favor Sky's entry into broadband with Easynet - as their brand should help them garner share," Eagan said. "The risk will be how soon the broadband launch will be accretive to value."
The company also said its satellite television subscriber numbers grew by 82,000 during the period, 20,000 more than the first quarter of last year. Also, BSkyB reported mixed results with its new service additions: Sky Plus subscribers with PVRs grew by 139,000 (compared to Oppeneimer's 110,000 estimate), but only 46,000 new multi-room subs - far below the firm's 105,000 estimate.
Satellite Services Sputter, Stall -- Posted by soullezz
on Monday, November 6 2006
With satellite services ending the year and counting on the seasonal fourth-quarter push to increase sales, some analysts are looking back over the year pulling the companies down to earth. Worse yet, some see a bleak future for satellite radio and television - and are warning investors to keep their feet on the ground when it comes to the sky-bound services.
One such analyst is Cowen and Company's Tom Watts, who said last week that satellite service's third quarter was dull, weak and anti-climatic. Watts called both Sirius and XM are merely "idling" until next year, WorldSpace is "sputtering" and both DIRECTV and DISH are "stalling."
"XM and Sirius continue to fend off jealous attacks from the music and broadcasting industries (and) royalty negotiations with RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) are going to arbitration," the analyst said. Although "the NAB continues to try to use the FCC to hamper satellite radio's progress in any way possible... these issues (are) resolvable."
Watts also projects rising challenges for the satellite TV business as "DIRECTV and EchoStar face slowing net adds and rising competition." Free cash flow take-off delays, stalled buybacks and a lack of merger and acquisition activity could limit DBS' prospects in the future," he said.
SES Americom Inks IPTV Deal with IDC -- Posted by soullezz
on Friday, November 3 2006
Global satellite communications company SES Americom and International Datacasting Corporation (IDC) are integrating IDC's next-generation DVB-S2 satellite receivers aboard the IP-Prime IPTV service. As part of a new agreement between the two companies, IDC is now the exclusive provider of satellite receivers over the initial year of IP-Prime service rollouts.
IP-Prime is the fully-managed solution that brings together IPTV components and technology partners - like Globecomm, Harmonic, NDS, Scientific-Atlanta, IDC and Siemens - creating an end-to-end service with encoding, middleware, scrambling/descrambling, content protection, conditional access and integration services.
According to IDC, the company's receivers feature new DVB-S2 technologies to maximize IPTV delivery over satellite bandwidth. SES Americom is also using IDC IP encapsulators and custom engineering and network management in support of IP-Prime, enabling telcos to deliver broadcast TV to customers across the country.
IP-Prime programming originates from the SES Americom IPTV broadcast center where video and audio will be received and processed for distribution via the AMC-9 satellite and fiber to telco video hubs nationwide. IDC receivers will be installed at the IP-Prime hubs, where programming is either handed off to telcos or delivered to IPTV set-top boxes in consumer homes, the companies said.
XM Calls Cingular for Streaming Tunes -- Posted by soullezz
on Friday, November 3 2006
The nation's largest satellite radio company has paired with the largest wireless carrier for a deal to bring scores of music to cellphones everywhere. In a new deal announced this week, XM and Cingular Wireless have entered an agreement that will stream 25 satellite radio channels to the wireless company's handsets.
Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, Cingular customers will be able to listen to some of XM's most popular channels through the XM Radio Mobile service for $8.99 a month.
According to the companies, the channels that will be available through the new service include the 70s, 80s, and 90s decades channels, Top 20 on 20 (top hits), Lucy (classic alternative), The City (hip hop/R&B), XMU (indie rock), Bluesville (blues), America (classic country), and Viva (latin pop).
In addition, XM will deliver data to the handsets allowing subscribers to view song titles, artists and album names while listening on several compatible devices. The XM Radio Mobile application was developed by MobiTV.
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