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On July 30 Fininvest, together with US investment fund Lehman Brothers Merchant Bank Partners and Saudi financier Prince Al Waleed, finalised a deal which will give each of them a […]

The arrival of new shareholders for the Italian digital platform Telepiu is close to being finalised with mobile phone operator Wind being the front runner. Although Telepiu has denied that […]

The media and financial services holding company Fininvest, headed by Silvio Berlusconi, announced on July 28 that it has sold its 10 per cent stake in leading Italian digital platform […]

The Swiss-based broadband multimedia software specialist The Fantastic Corporation has confirmed that it intends to launch an initial public offering on Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt, expected to be completed in the […]

Interactive television will generate revenues of $20 billion by 2004, according to Forrester Research. Forrester estimates that interactive applications will generate $11 billion in advertising, $7 billion in commerce and […]

In what is seen as a smart tactical move by industry observers, German media company Pro-Sieben Group has managed to gain valuable analogue capacity on the Astra satellite system (19.2 […]

by Katie McConnell International relationships in the satellite community are not at their best. The U.S. decision to transfer the exporting of satellite licenses from the Commerce Department to the […]

by Katie McConnell Michael Young, Hongkong Telecom’s marketing manager, says, "The digitization of television channels has created enormous growth in the total number of satellite channels available. Multiple channel per […]

by Marc Crossman Iridium’s inability to add meaningful subscribers to its network has left the company floundering in its ability to meet debt obligations. Despite the fact that three credit […]

by Gerald E. Oberst Jr. After reading ITU documents for years, it was a pleasure to find in a recent paper the first candid assessment of how confusing the coordination […]

Astrolink, the Lockheed Martin/ Telespazio/TRW-backed broadband satellite project, has closed a $900 million equity investment, initially announced in May. Astrolink secured the investment following regulatory approval for the project on […]

Dispelling mounting speculation that News Corp has given up on its Italian TV ambitions, Rupert Murdoch and Telecom Italia president Roberto Colaninno met for the first time ever on July […]

The German Disney Channel planned by Buena Vista Germany GmbH has finally received its cable and satellite licence from Bavarian media authority Bayerische Landeszentrale fur neue Medien (BLM). The approval, […]

Italian media conglomerate Cecchi Gori Group (CGC) is seeking foreign partners to relaunch its ailing terrestrial TV channels (TMC and TMC2), which lose money and fail to draw more than […]

Patrick Le Lay, head of French media group TF1, speaking at the Vieilles Charrues festival, revealed some details about the forthcoming Bretton channel, TV Breizh. Le Lay said that he […]

In a controversial move, German media company Kirch Group has decided to cancel all contracts with third party channels that have been using its digital DF1 platform with effect from […]

The worldwide corporate business TV channel planned by German-American automobile company Daimler-Chrysler (Interspace 671) has launched test transmissions for Europe on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 3 satellite at 13 degrees East. […]

Europe Online Networks (EON), has contracted additional capacity on the Astra satellite system at 19.2 degrees East and has established a smaller platform at 28.2 degrees East to develop its […]

Bollywood For You (B4U) is a new 24-hour digital premium channel launching on August 26 for Asian viewers on Astra 2A. The channel will charge Pounds 9.99 as a stand-alone […]

Russia’s Media Most broadcasting group has strongly refuted reports that it is in severe financial trouble. Media Most which owns, among other things, the NTV satellite channels and the Segodnya […]

78.5 degrees E: Thaicom-2&3 D. As mentioned in Transponder Monitor 14 July, Thaicom has signed a carriage deal with Turkey’s TRT to feed TRT International and the radio service, Voice […]

Studio Universal, the pay-TV movie channel operated by Universal Studios Networks Germany, will most probably be able to launch, as planned, on 1 September. Following the directors of the 15 […]

The established Middle Eastern DTH broadcasters are soon to be joined by the long-awaited MMDS service for Saudi Arabia… The long-awaited launch of a Saudi Arabian multichannel MMDS system is […]

Troubled MSS operator Iridium has invoked a 30-day grace period for the payment of $90 million in interest due on July 15 on its $1.45 billion outstanding senior notes. The […]

For the first time ever, Italian football fans face the prospect of having to subscribe to both digital platforms in order to follow the complete 1999-2000 season on pay-TV. On […]

Canal Plus has published its quarterly subscription figures, revealing a total subscription figure for the end of June of 12,301,320. According to Canal Plus, this represented an increase of 16 […]

France Telecom’s $1 billion investment in UK cable operator NTL (with a promise of "more to come") may have implications beyond the realm of cable TV and telecoms. Besides its […]

SPAIN’S Hispasat, owned by Telefonica and Retevision, has confirmed it is planning to enhance its coverage over Latin America and over Europe and North Africa. Hispasat 1C, scheduled to be […]

Multimedia applications such as high-speed Internet access via satellite and other broadband data services are to form the focus of presentations by satellite operators Eutelsat and SES at the IFA […]

Teledesic has apparently responded to recent negative coverage in the trade press by releasing outline details of a launch contract concluded last week with Internatinonal Launch Services (ILS), the US-Russian […]