News Analysis

DirecTV tops 20 million subscribers

Las Vegas, Nev.  January 14, 2013--US satellite TV provider DirecTV added 100,000 net subscribers in the fourth quarter raising its total subscriber base to more than 20 million at the end of 2012. DirecTV's Chief Executive said on Tuesday DirecTV had a "good quarter" and the churn was better than expected. But the increase during the quarter was 25,000 less than the subscriber net gain during the same period last year when it added 125,000 subscribers.

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Trends to Watch in 2013

by Virgil Labrador, Editor-Chief

Los Angeles, Calif., January 7, 2013--Shakespeare once said that the “past is prologue.”  And the significant events of 2012 are a good portent of things to come in 2013 and beyond.  Here are some of the events from 2012 that will shape and influence coming industry trends (not necessarily in order of significance):

Amino Chief Technologist Reveals his Top Five Predictions for 2013

Cambridge, UK, January 2, 2013--Amino Communications Chief Technologist Kevin Lingley has looked into his crystal ball to reveal his thoughts about the five most significant developments in the pay-TV market for 2013.

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New Report From WTA Explores Best Practices in Buying Satellite Antennas and the RF Chain

New York City, December 14, 2012--The World Teleport Association released a new white paper, Best Practices in Buying Satellite Antennas and the RF Chain. The latest in the Four-Nines series of reports shares insights from WTA members on the trade-offs between cost and quality, standards-based and proprietary, and investment risk versus revenue opportunity of purchasing antennas and RF equipment. The report is made possible by the financial support of XipLink.

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World Teleport Association Publishes Top Operator Rankings for 2012

New York City, December 5, 2012--The World Teleport Association published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2012. The annual ranking provides a unique look into the diverse teleport sector of the global communications industry. For the second year in a row, the teleport operators reported their total spending on satellite capacity. The Top Independent Operators in 2012 spent $830 million on satellite capacity, which represented 40% on average of their annual revenues.

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The Year of the Spectrum

by Robert Bell

New York City, December 3, 2012--For better or worse – and mostly for better, I think –2012 has been the Year of Spectrum. We have seen a series of amazing announcements about step-changes in the number of megabits we can run through a given amount of satellite spectrum. 

Going 4K: Looking Beyond The Hype

London, UK, November 29, 2012--The opportunities for 4K technology - the next step forward in high resolution video - have been much hyped, particularly within the world of broadcast, though beyond digital cinema the appetite for 4K from end users remains limited.  Futuresource expects a number of broadcasters to launch 4K channels as early as 2014 in a webminar held November 28 addressing the realities and the commercial and technological drivers of 4K video technology.

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Half of Consumers in the US and UK are Viewing OTT Video through a Broadband Connection

New York City, NY,  November 28, 2012 – Consumers in the U.S. and U.K. are changing the way they view TV and video content by increasingly taking control of how, when, and where they view it, according to a new survey released by Accenture.  About half (49 percent) of consumers surveyed in Accenture’s Pulse of Media Consumer Survey are viewing over-the-top (OTT) video through a broadband connection on their TVs (50 percent in the U.S. and 48 percent in the U.K.) in addition to the content they traditionally watch via cable or satellite.

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Next Generation Systems: Now’s the Time

by Dan Freyer

Los Angeles, Calif., November 9, 2012-- Next generation high throughput satellites (HTS) and Ka-Band systems in production and coming into service are bringing massive increases in bandwidth to orbit.  Over twenty new HTS and Ka-band satellites are in construction, each carrying from 10 to 100 times the capacity of today’s conventional C–  and Ku-Band  systems.These next-gen and Ka-Band systems could dramatically alter the industry’s landscape. How will they impact satellite markets in the next two years, and what industry players stand to gain from their success?   

Ka-Band: What's All the Fuss About?

 by Elisabeth Tweedie

Los Angeles, Calif., November 8, 2012--Ka-Band is one of the most popular topics at industry conferences, and in trade newsletters and magazines.  What is all the fuss about?  Is Ka really the magic bullet for the satellite industry or are we in danger of once again drinking our own bath water and letting our enthusiasm for new technology override our common sense?