NSR’s Global Direct-to-Home (DTH) Markets, 4th Edition study finds the DTH market continues to drive satellite demand and revenue worldwide amidst a troubling economic climate and increasing competition. DTH services utilized 950 Ku-Band 36 MHz Transponder Equivalents (TPEs) in 2010. In the same year, DTH platforms delivered almost 16,900 SD, HD, and 3D television channels to nearly 140 million subscribers, and generated over $75 billion in subscription revenues.

The  Global VSAT Forum (GVF) has launched a global campaign to assure that communications customers will continue to have unfettered access to Ka-Band spectrum for delivery of state-of-the-art consumer, government and enterprise solutions.

New York City, November 3, 2011 by Robert Bell

As interactivity becomes an essential component of the television experience, how will it affect the satellite business? For one thing, there is the lingering concern that, sooner or later, a ubiquitous high-speed Internet will take over many of the applications currently delivered via satellite.

Economic stagnation and financial uncertainty across U.S. and European markets, the continuing significant political unrest manifest in the “Arab Spring”, the litany of manmade conflicts and natural disasters across the globe (including serious flooding in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines), concerns over hydrocarbon-based energy supplies, consumption, prices, and climate change impact – short-, medium-, and longer-term problems, and justified news headline-grabbers all!

The global pay TV market, including telco IPTV, cable and satellite video services, totaled $125 billion in the first half of 2011  and is forecast by Infonetics Research to grow to $353 billion by 2015. according toits Pay TV Services and Subscribers report, which forecasts and analyzes the telco Internet protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services markets.

NSR's Global Assessment of Satellite Supply & Demand, 8th Edition study, released today, indicates that satellite operators continue to buck the global economic malaise. In 2010 global satellite operators saw a strong revenue increase of over US$550 million, derived from the lease of commercial satellite capacity. NSR projects that by 2020 capacity leasing revenues will reach US$17.2 billion, up from US$10.1 billion in 2010.

After receiving a hit with very few contracts from the U.S. Government’s National GeoSpatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), Europe’s largest EO data provider, EADS Astrium, seems to have set sail east to Asia where demand for EO satellites and imagery is growing across the board.

The CASBAA Convention 2011 has the industry covered through a compelling range of sessions featuring internationally renowned guest speakers. Themed TV365: Watch Closely!, the show will be staged in Hong Kong, October 31st - November 3rd at the Grand Hyatt.  “As a key event in the industry calendar, delegates expect the best speakers covering items relevant to their businesses,” said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO, CASBAA.

In September 2011, O3b Networks announced a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment with Ozônio Telecomunicações, a Brazilian multimedia communications and Internet service provider. The precise contract value was not disclosed, but it follows a series of O3b deals over the past two years.

Some of the contracts O3b has signed in the last two years include:

Hybrid set-top boxes are rapidly being deployed by pay-TV operators worldwide to help them deliver advanced services and manage bandwidth scarcity in broadcast networks, according to a recent report by ABI Research. In 2010, only 40% of set-top boxes worldwide featured hybrid capabilities, with many not yet enabled by software as operators were not ready to deploy IP video services. Hybrid box penetration will rise above 60% by 2016 as operators look at IP-based video on demand (VOD) and advertising solutions, as well as interactive content.