Staff Writer

Merrill Lynch renewed its contract with Convergent Media Systems for another five years, making Convergent the exclusive satellite communication services provider to the financial giant in the United States and […]

Rainbow National Services LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp. [CVC], just closed an offering of $300 million worth of 8.75 percent senior notes due 2012; for $500 million worth […]

Direct-to-home satellite television service provider DirecTV Inc. [DTV] inked a deal with LIN TV Corp. [TVL] to be the exclusive satellite distributor WAPA-America, a Puerto Rico-based network for news, movies […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) will host a meeting next month for more than 700 scientists from 50 countries who will analyze the performance of the agency’s Envisat satellite mission. […]

Americom Government Services (AGS), a subsidiary of SES Americom, won a contract from the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service to launch a new Pentagon Channel that will broadcast all […]

Orbimage yesterday said its OrbView-2 satellite, which just passed its seventh year of successful service, is expected to remain in service for at least another three to five years. That […]

The DirecTV Group Inc. [DTV] and PanAmSat Corp. announced that the completion of PanAmSat’s sale to affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., The Carlyle Group, and Providence Equity […]

Telenor Satellite Services, a subsidiary of Telenor of Norway [TELN], today said it purchased GMPCS Personal Communications Inc., a full service provider of global mobile personal communications via satellite. GMPCS […]

Intelsat today said it pre-booked more than 35,000 hours of programming from the Summer Olympic Games in Athens for 50 channels. Intelsat said the programming represents the equivalent of nearly […]

Modern Times Group (MTG) has strengthened its position in Russia by increasing its stakes in DTV, a Russian Free-To-Air (FTA) channel and StoryFirst Communications, a U.S. entity that owns and […]

StarBand has launched its new StarBand 484 Small Office two-way satellite Internet service. The service provides the fastest SOHO (small office/home office) upload speed, up to 256 kbps, for a […]

Downward pressure on transponder pricing caused operating profits to slip at New Skies Satellites N.V. [NSK] during second-quarter 2004, compared with the same quarter last year. Two non-recurring events, including […]

Raytheon [RTN] won a $1.6 billion, multiyear contract for a full-rate production (FRP) run of Tactical Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles for the U.S. Navy and for Britain’s Royal Navy. […]

Despite softness in the Asia marketplace right now, AsiaSat saw its revenues increase in the first half of 2004, reaching $70.6 million, a 21-percent increase compared with last year. This […]

Affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners Inc. are scheduled to acquire The DirecTV Group’s equity stake in PanAmSat tomorrow. In anticipation […]

Loral Space & Communications Ltd. [LRLSQ] and certain of its subsidiaries today filed a proposed reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released an order modifying the reporting requirements for satellite outages. The rules apply only to voice and paging communications offered by satellite operators and […]

EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, inked a key deal in Austria to improve training materials for satellite meteorology. The project, named EUMeTrain, will create additional […]

Marlink, a subsidiary of Rockville, Md.-based Telenor Satellite Services, rolled out a new maritime communications service to provide global voice and advanced data communications to leisure boats, fishing vessels, coastal […]

SES Americom today said its AMC-15 satellite has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in preparation for its scheduled Sept. 24 launch aboard a Proton launch vehicle. The […]

According to the 2004 J.D. Power And Associates Residential Cable/Satellite TV Customer Satisfaction Study, released today, satellite television subscription services received a higher overall customer satisfaction (723 on a 1,000-point […]

How many times have you caught the tail end of a bit on morning radio or the final seconds of a song you’ve been waiting to hear and then wished […]

One of the early complaints about satellite radio in general was that people were paying for the service but they could only get it in their cars, making the investment […]

Following the devastating effects of Hurricane Charley late last week, at least two satellite companies have stepped up to help in the aftermath. Globecomm Systems Inc. [GCOM] has provided satellite […]

Raleigh, N.C.-based Microspace Communications, a provider of point-to-multipoint satellite services and the operator of a large business satellite network, was selected by the Christian Radio Consortium (CRC) to deliver programming […]

Sirius Satellite Radio [SIRI] introduced a portable plug-and-play receiver aimed directly at the National Football League (NFL) enthusiasts among its subscriber base. The new receiver, aptly named the Sportster, is […]

Australian telco Optus launched a new satellite broadband solution, Optus Broadband Satellite. The service aims to provide fast Internet connections at affordable prices to rural Australia. John Anderson, the deputy […]

Week of Aug. 6 – 12, 2004 Percentage Change Symbol Aug. 12 Price One Week One Month Three Month Year to Date Operators APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.49 (3.9) (13.4) […]

AVC Broadband Managing Director Frank Tyler is confident the operator can build a profitable business but it is unlikely to reach the 80,000 subscribers it initially targeted for 2004. The […]

Jim Blomfield, CEO of Hong Kong-based Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, resigned last week, citing personal reasons. There now, apparently, are concerns about the future of Galaxy, a joint venture between Intelsat […]