News Analysis

Jerusalem, Israel, April 3, 2014- Israel-based SintecMedia today announced that the company has acquired Pilat Media, both providers of media business management software. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pilat shareholders registered as of 6.00 p.m. (London) on April 2, 2014, shall receive 95 pence (US$1.60) in cash for per share, save where they have validly requested to receive such cash payment in NIS.

El Segundo, Calif., April 1, 2014--Various media outlets are reporting that U.S. Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite operators Echostar and DirecTV are engaging in possible merger talks. The merger will create a monopoly of DTH services in the U.S., which is the second largest DTH market in the world with 34 million subscribers.

The April 2014  issue focusing on the North American Broadcast Market of  the  Satellite Executive Briefing magazine  sponsored by  ABS is now available.  Featuring:

NAB 2014 to Highlight the New Multiplatform Media Environment  by Virgil Labrador

Trends in Broadcasting by Elisabeth Tweedie

Direct-to-Home Satellite Trends by Dmitri Buchs

Back and Forth with Jorge Villareal, Tomaz Lovsin and Eric Greenberg by Lou Zacharilla

The Road to Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Goes through DISH by Armand Musey

plus Product and Services MarketPlace Profiles for NAB 2014, Case Study on Digital Cinema Distribution Via Satellite, Market Briefs, Executive Moves, Vital Statistics and Satellite Markets and Research 25^TM Stock Index  and many more.   Click here to read or download the file

Burbank, Calif.,  March 25, 2014 – The Walt Disney Company announced that  they are acquiring Maker Studios, the leading network of online video content on YouTube. Maker Studios shareholders will receive total consideration of US$ 500 million, and a performance-linked earn-out of up to US$450 million if the strong performance targets are met, according to the company.

London, UK, March 24,  2014--Although telematics technologies and services were first adopted by the long-haul trucking industry in the United States more than 20 years ago, adoption in the non-trucking sector is expected to equal the trucking industry in terms of numbers of connected vehicles by the end of 2014 and will dominate the commercial fleet telematics industry by the end of 2019, accounting for almost 50 million vehicles globally.

Kourou, French Guiana, March 22, 2014--Arianespace's Arian 5 rocket successfully launched Hispasat's Amazons 4A satellite and SES' ASTRA 5A satellite from its launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana.It was the 59th successful launch in a row for the Ariane 5 rocket.

London, UK, March 19, 2014--Vislink plc  today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Pebble Beach Systems for a total consideration of £14.9 million (approximately US$ 24.8 million), comprising £12.9 million payable in cash and £2.0 million represented by the issue of 4,700,904 new Vislink ordinary shares at a price of 42.545 pence per share, being the average mid-market closing price of Vislink's shares for the last 25 business days before, but not including, the day of completion.

New York City, March 18, 2014--Harris Broadcast has announced plans to split into two, under the new brands of Imagine Communications and GatesAir. Imagine Communications will be headquartered in Dallas, with Centers of Excellence in Denver, Toronto, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv and Beijing.  Harris Broadcast made the announcement at its inaugural MediaDay held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Melbourne, Fla., March 14, 2014--Thales signed a binding agreement to acquire LiveTV, JetBlue’s fully-owned subsidiary for a total of US$ 400 million dollars. The sale which is subject to regulatory and other approvals is expected to be completed in mid-2014.

Ottawa, Canada, March 12, 2014--C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.  a global provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, announced today that  for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2013 revenues have increased by 16.4% to CDN $15,573,798 and the company generated a net after tax profit of CDN $3,473,371 or 10 cents per share, This represents an increase of 30.3% from last year, when total revenues were CDN $13,385,324 and there was a net after tax profit of $2,665,491 or 8 cents per share.