News Analysis

C-COM Reports Increased Revenue & Profits in Second Quarter

Ottawa, Canada, July 9, 2013--C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., a provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, today announced financial results for its second quarter ending May 31, 2013. The company is reporting a net profit of CDN $ 966,997 or 2.8 cents per share compared with results for the same period last year when there was a net profit of CDN $ 542,251, or 1.6 cent per share.

Kymeta Closes US$ 50 Million Series C Financing

Redmond, Wash.,  July 9, 2013-- Start-up company Kymeta Corporation announced today that it has successfully closed a US$ 50 million Series C financing to accelerate the company’s growth plans. Kymeta, a privately held technology company, designs and manufactures satellite communication antennas and systems. Existing Kymeta investors including Bill Gates, Lux Capital and Liberty Global were joined in the financing by Osage University Partners and The Kresge Foundation.

SiriusXM Surpasses 25 Million Subscribers

New York, New York, July 9, 2013--Sirius XM Radio  today announced that it added 715,000 net new subscribers in the second quarter, bringing its total subscribers to more than 25 million.  Strong automotive sales helped drive 15% growth in net additions over the second quarter of 2012 and set a post-merger record for quarterly net subscriber additions. The company also announced that it was raising full-year guidance for total net subscriber additions to 1.5 million from its previous guidance of 1.4 million.

DirecTV Competing with Time Warner Cable and AT&T in Bid for Hulu

El Segundo, Calif., July 8, 2013 -- Three top pay-TV companies have emerged as the remaining serious contenders for online video service Hulu in a bidding completed on July 5 according to media reports.

FTA Satellite Channels in the Arab World Embrace Social Media

Amman, Jordan, July 8, 2013--New research from the Arab Advisors Group analyzes and compares the social media presence of 40 Free-to-Air (FTA) satellite channels in the Arab World. By mid-June 2013, news and current affairs channels BBC World, Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera English took the lead in the number of Twitter followers, while MBC Group had the highest number of YouTube subscribers on its channel.

Superfast Takes Over in the UK as Broadband Subscribers Grow

London, UK, July 4, 2013--Superfast broadband services delivering 30 megabits a second or more now account for 20% of the consumer market in the UK, according to Point Topic.

Ericsson to Acquire UK’s Red Bee Media

Stockholm, Sweden, July 2, 2013--Ericsson announced  its intention to acquire Red Bee Media, a leading media services company headquartered in the UK, from an entity controlled by Macquarie Advanced Investment Partners, L.P.

Nav Canada adds $40 mil. Investment, Now Owns 18.7% of Aireon

Ottawa, Canada, July 2, 2013 — Nav Canada has invested an additional US$40 million in Aireon LLC, a joint venture with Iridium Communications Inc., increasing its ownership of Aireon to 18.7 percent on a fully diluted basis.

Carrier-to-Carrier, Mach 6 Join Forces; Form Globecomm Europe BV in the Netherlands

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 1, 2013--Globecomm Systems Inc. announced today that Globecomm Europe BV has become the official new entity of Carrier-to-Carrier Telecom BV and BV Mach 6, two Dutch communications services companies that have joined forces through today’s merger.

TV Everywhere Grows, but Content Rights Still Slowing the Market Down

Scottsdale, Ariz., June 28, 2013--Nearly one-third of US Telco TV households are expected to access multiscreen or TV Everywhere services by the end of 2013 – the vast majority of which already use advanced interactive features like remote programming a DVR, according to ABI Research. Cable is close behind due to its early lead, but the growth rate for these services is slower because of the greater diversity of cable households and services (not all service providers offer TVE). Satellite operators are further behind, due to slower starts and lack of in-house broadband services, but offer some novel experiences like Dish’s Sling place-shifting technology.