News Analysis

DirecTV revenues up 8% to $7.6B, adds 0.607 M subscribers in 1Q 2013

El Segundo, Calif., May 7, 2013 —DirecTV increased its first quarter 2013 revenues by 8 percent to $7.58 billion beating analysts expectations, although net income was down $690 million or $1.20 per share compared to $731 million or $1.07 per share a year ago.

Telesat Revenues Up in 1Q

Ottawa, Canada,  May 3, 2013 — Telesat Holdings Inc.’s first-quarter revenues increased by 12 percent year-over-year to US$217 million (CAD 219 million) while EBITDA increased 12 percent to US$ 168 million (CAD 170 million).

Iridium Posts Higher Net Income but Revenues Drop 5% in 1Q

McLean, VA., May 2, 2013 — Iridium Communications Inc. on Friday reported a net income of $14.9 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2013 compared to $12.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012. Operational EBITDA for the first quarter was $46.8 million compared to $43.9 million for the prior-year period, representing year-over-year growth of 7 percent and an OEBITDA margin of 53 percent.

Dish's Ergen Gambles on US$ 25 Bil. Bid for Sprint

by Peter Galace

Englewood, Colo., April 19, 2013 -- Dish Network Corp. chairman Charlie Ergen is gambling big time again. He has just upped the ante on the bidding game for Sprint Nextel, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, to US$25.5 billion in an effort to elbow out Japan’s SoftBank US$20.1 billion offer. The move is a big Blackjack gamble that Ergen is used to but the deal is rife with danger. Even if Ergen wins this bet, it could end into a pyrrhic victory and bring Dish to the edge.  

Satellite Leads the Latin American Pay TV Charge

London, UK, April 18, 2013--After a slow start, digital TV penetration is about to rocket in Latin America – from less than a third of homes at end-2012 to nearly 45% by end-2013 and onto 84% by 2018, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. To put it another way, 100 million digital TV households (in the 19 countries covered in the Digital TV Latin America report) will be added between 2011 and 2018 to take the total to 134 million.

C-COM Reports Increased Revenue and Profits in Its First Quarter

Ottawa, Canada, April 16, 2013--C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., a global provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, today announced financial results for its first quarter ending February 28, 2013.Revenues have increased by 50% to $3,929,630 compared with results from the same period last year, when total revenues were $2,611,986. The company is reporting a net income of $907,301, or 0.3 cent per share, compared with results for the same period last year when there was a net income of $283,659, or 0.1 cent per share.

ViaSat acquires Cloud Company

Carlsbad, Calif., April 12, 2013 – ViaSat Inc. has acquired privately-held LonoCloud Inc., an early-stage company based in La Jolla, Calif. with expertise in cloud networking software.

IABM NAB Conference Session Offers Statistics and Strategies Supporting Reinvention of the Industry

Las Vegas, Nev., April 9, 2013-At the organization's 2013 NAB Show conference session, held April 8 in Las Vegas, the IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers) released the latest data gathered from the IABM End User Report, Industry Index, and Benchmark Report. This market intelligence on the state of the industry complemented the panel dialogue, in which executives from leading media technology supply companies discussed and debated the reinvention of the broadcast industry.

Ericsson Acquires Microsoft Mediaroom

Stockholm, Sweden, April 8, 2013--Ericsson has reached an agreement with Microsoft to acquire its TV solution Mediaroom business. This will make Ericsson the leading provider of IPTV and multi-screen solutions with a market share of over 25%. Closing expected during the second half of 2013. Mediaroom is situated in Mountain View, California and employs more than 400 people worldwide.

Intelsat IPO Expected to Raise as High as US $823 Million

Luxembourg, April 3, 2013 – After months of eager anticipation, Intelsat Global Holdings S.A has finally announced details of its initial public offering this year. Intelsat said it was offering 21.74 million common shares and 3 million Series A mandatory convertible junior non-voting preferred shares in its IPO.