Satellite Television (DBS, DTH, DSat, DVB-S, DVB-S2) News

Comcast considering superior all-cash offer to acquire 21st Century Fox
May 23, 2018 – Comcast has confirmed that it is in the advanced stages of preparing an offer for the businesses that Fox has agreed to sell to Disney. Any offer for Fox would be all-cash and at a premium to the value of the current offer from Disney.
News categories: Comcast, 21st Century Fox, Disney, Cable TV, Digital TV, Europe, MandA, Satellite, USA

SES showcases its first broadcast of 8K television
May 23, 2018 – SES will be broadcasting an 8K television signal via its satellite system for the first time during the annual SES Industry Days on 23 and 24 May. Using DVB-S2X the transmission will be carried out on a single 36 MHz transponder on ASTRA 3B.
News categories: SES S.A, Thomas Wrede, Digital TV, Luxembourg, Satellite

Video streaming outperforms subscription TV in customer satisfaction in the U.S.
May 22, 2018 – Customer satisfaction with video streaming services in the U.S. far eclipses that of subscription TV, according to an ACSI customer satisfaction report. In the report video streaming services had a score of 75, way above subscription TV’s score of 62.
News categories: American Customer Satisfaction Index, David VanAmburg, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Streaming, USA, UX

Sky announces new Innovation Centre in latest phase of campus development
May 21, 2018 – Sky has announced that it plans to build a dedicated innovation centre on its Osterley campus. The space will house engineers and developers focusing on innovation across Sky’s broadcast and streaming platforms, consumer products and other activities including VR.
News categories: Sky, Jeremy Darroch, Digital TV, Metaverse, Satellite, Set Top Box, Streaming, UK

U.S. legacy multichannel subscriptions remain under pressure
May 17, 2018 – Traditional multichannel video losses in the first quarter of 2018 showed modest improvement over the same period in 2017, but the magnitude of the decline remains elevated, according to Kagan, a research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence.
News categories: S&P Global, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, USA

Major U.S. pay TV providers lost ~305,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018
May 17, 2018 – Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. – representing about 95% of the market – lost about 305,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 515,000 subscribers in 1Q 2017.
News categories: Leichtman Research, Bruce Leichtman, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Streaming, Subscribers, USA

DISH/Sling pay TV subscribers down 94,000 in 1Q 2018
May 8, 2018 – DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) has reported revenue results for the quarter ending March 31, 2018. The company closed the quarter with 10.845 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.303 million Sling TV subscribers.
News categories: DISH Network, Results, Satellite, Streaming, Subscribers, USA

Hub Entertainment Research surveys USA TV service value perceptions
Apr 30, 2018 – Hub Entertainment Research has released findings from its annual study on the perceived value of TV services. The results reveal a large gap in perceived value between online TV services and traditional cable, satellite, or fiber optic services.
News categories: Hub Entertainment Research, Jon Giegengack, Peter Fondulas, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Streaming, USA

AT&T US up 125k; DTVLA down 15k video subs in 1Q 2018
Apr 25, 2018 – AT&T (NYSE:T) has reported results for the first quarter of 2018. Total US video subscribers grew by 125,000 in the quarter as DIRECTV NOW subscribers more than offset linear video declines. For DIRECTV Latin America, first-quarter subscribers were down 15,000.
News categories: AT&T, Brazil, IPTV, Latin America, Results, Satellite, Subscribers