Khalid Balkheyour, CEO, Arabsat

Arabsat is expected to post double-digit percentage increases in revenues and profits, as operational revenues jumped from $157 million in 2008 to $192 million in 2009, and EBIDTA improved 68 percent in the same period.

But the numbers tell only part of the story engineered by CEO Khalid Balkheyour, who has positioned the satellite operator for growth in a time of high demand in the Middle East. The operator has embarked on a strategy to expand its constellation, with Arabsat 5A and BADR-5 (Arabsat 5B) scheduled for launch in 2010 with most of their capacity already sold. The expansions is needed, as Arabsat capacity utilization has reached 90 percent on some satellites and 100 percent on others.

Arabsat also expanded its Arabsat TV platforms throughout the region, adding Al Jazeera Sports and other bouquets to its lineup and unveiling plans to rollout HDTV in 2010 and finalizing Ka-band broadband service on future satellites.

Along with satisfying capacity demands, Arabsat is working with Newtec and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) to develop Multimedia Exchange Network Over Satellite (MENOS) in the Middle East, an IP-based networking concept for the exchange of multimedia content over satellite. It allows ASBU’s 28 members to share video and audio material among scattered sites in a fully automated and cost-efficient manner. In October, Newtec also signed a cooperation agreement with Arabsat to develop new markets and technologies to implement DTH, TV contribution and distribution, IP connectivity over satellite, and occasional TV and radio exchange services throughout the Middle East.

Arabsat also is among the regional satellite operators that are expanding beyond their traditional boundaries, as it expanded operations and offerings into Africa and parts of Asia.

Eric Beranger, CEO, Astrium Services

Building a strong business in the European government and institutional services market is a tough ask, but Eric Beranger has built Astrium Services into a vital part of Astrium’s business in the space sector. A strong contender for the 2008 Satellite Executive of the Year award, Beranger has done little to suggest that his efforts a year ago where just a one-time event.

Astrium Services will meet its numbers for 2009, posting improved revenues and profits, and the operations are seen as a key profit center within Astrium. Astrium Services also continues to add to its list of key contracts, with perhaps its most impressive 2009 deal signed with the French Ministry of Defence’s telecommunications operator, DIRISI, to become the agency’s sole private sector supplier of fixed satellite services. This four-year contract sees Astrium Services provide French forces around the globe with civil (Ku-, Ka- and C-band) and military (UHF- and X-band) satellite telecommunications services that complement the Syracuse military satellite network.

Beranger also masterminded an agreement for Spot Infoterra, part of Astrium Services, to supply Serbia with a national spatial data infrastructure. Beranger also secured contracts with Intelsat General to supply services to the U.S. Department of Defense. Astrium Services also delivered the first set of secure satellite communications equipment based on Astrium’s Mini-Scot naval terminal to Aselsan for MILGEM, a Turkish Navy program.

Astrium Services also has announced that it will fund Spot 6 and Spot 7 Earth Observation satellites. Previous Spot satellites had been funded by CNES (the French Space Agency) before Astrium acquired Spot Image in 2008. This purchase strengthens Astrium Services’ presence in the Earth observation value chain — satellites, spaceborne and airborne data, ground segment, application solutions, and information management and distribution
 

Bruce Churchill, President, DirecTV Latin America

When DirecTV appointed PepsiCo CEO Michael White to replace Chase Carey as CEO of DirecTV, Chairman John Malone made sure to tell the Wall Street Journal that Bruce Churchill was considered the internal frontrunner to the position. The reason behind this may be the fact that under Churchill’s leadership, DirecTV Latin America has experienced tremendous profit growth and a steady surge of new subscribers.

DirecTV Latin America provides service in the region through three divisions: Brazil, Mexico and PanAmericana, which by itself has grown to serve more than 2.3 millions subscribers throughout nine territories: Argentina, Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Uruguay. While the economic environment in 2009 challenged most of the consumer video market to break-even, DirecTV Latin America recorded a record-breaking year in one of the most competitive regions in the world.

Churchill produced double-digit revenue gains in every single quarter and grew DirecTV Latin America’s customer base by 500,000 subscribers, or 16 percent, to 4.3 million in nine months. He also reduced DirecTV Latin America’s monthly churn rate to 1.75 percent and made efforts to reduce the company’s expenses per subscriber to $56. Churchill also projects that DirecTV will reach 6.2 million DTH subscriptions by the end of the year. This number includes DirecTV’s businesses in Brazil and Mexico, where DirecTV Latin America has 74 percent ownership of Sky Brasil.

Churchill has grown DirecTV to be the second largest pay-TV provider in the country with more than 1.7 million subscribers. In Mexico, where DirecTV Latin America has a 41 percent ownership of Sky Mexico, Churchill has seen the company become the leading pay-TV provider in the country with more than 1.8 million subscribers. In 2009, DirecTV Latin America was also a major contributor to the evolution of HD programming in the region, incorporating new interactive features, digital video recorder services and electronic program guides.

Churchill has made the Latin American division so valuable, rumors are circulating that the parent company may spin off DirecTV Latin America in order to make DirecTV’s U.S. operations more attractive and affordable to possible acquirers.
 

Philip Elias, CEO, Velocity Broadcasting

In 2009, Philip Elias, CEO of Velocity Broadcasting, engineered continued growth and expansion by leading the development of a private broadcasting initiative to serve the meetings and events industry. The private broadcasts are fully encrypted and delivered via EchoStar Satellite to invitation-only audiences.

The development enabled Velocity to generate 30 percent of its business from new broadcast clients in 2009 and demonstrate a healthy return on investment for broadcast clients in industries ranging from pharmaceutical, financial and education. As a result, new business leads in 2009 increased by nearly 60 percent over 2008.

Elias also expanded Velocity’s reach in 2009, making it a global satellite broadcasting network and enabling broadcast clients to assemble an audience anywhere in the world. Velocity can simulcast live to different regions, synchronizing communication across time zones to suit audience requirements. Additionally, Elias introduced a platform of new technology to clients that included HD2PC, HD direct-to-PC delivery of private broadcast television, and Mind over Matter Business Intelligence Suite, an array of audience response tools and technology that allows broadcast clients to tap directly into the mindset of the audience, while also empowering audiences to question the experts live on the air.

Velocity secured broadcast clients in a host of industries throughout 2009, achieving significant traction in the pharmaceutical sector. New broadcast clients in this industry include companies such as Nobel Biocare, Medtronic, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Shire, Schering-Plough, Bristol-Myers Squib, Cardiovascular Research Foundation, Novo Nordisk and World Diabetes Day. These organizations conducted product rollouts, educational presentations and other instructional demonstrations about new medical technologies and new medicine being introduced into the market. Many of these clients held several broadcasts throughout the year, realizing significant return on investment.

Fred Kornberg, CEO, Comtech

Since completing the acquisition of Radyne Corp. in August 2008, Comtech Telecommunications Corp. CEO Fred Kornberg has been able to combine the two component manufacturers into a dominant presence in their markets.

Since integrating the two companies, Comtech has more than doubled the size of its RF microwave amplifiers, expanding products and services in its mobile data communications segment, and expanded addressable markets. Comtech also made moves to refine its focus, selling assets relating to its Tiernan-branded video encoder and decoder product lines. The moves paid off, as Comtech booked record orders of $883.8 million in its 2009 fiscal year and enters 2010 with a backlog of $549.8 million.

Comtech also has introduced new technology for its customers, and in 2009, invested a record $65 million in research and development projects, a 35 percent increase over the previous year. The company’s DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier technology provides a 50 percent increase in satellite bandwidth efficiency in some military and Radyne modems. VersaFEC is an advanced forward error correction feature that, when combined with adaptive coding and modulation, can provide up to a 100 percent increase in data throughput in a satellite link.

Comtech also expanded its presence in the military market, developing next-generation movement tracking system and Blue Force technology solutions to provide the U.S. Army with the most advanced satellite-based mobile network communications and tracking capability. The Army awarded Comtech an $8 million order to build and begin testing Blue Force Tracking High-Capacity prototype units.

Subsidiary AeroAstro received a contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop small satellites and payloads that they can be assembled and launched in a matter of days.

Peter Shaper, CEO, CapRock Communications

CapRock Communications posted revenues of $358 million in 2009, up more than 20 percent from the prior year and an indicator of the work CEO Peter Shaper has put into developing CapRock’s business portfolio since joining the company in 2002.

On the commercial side, Shaper oversaw product expansion that helped CapRock post 54 percent revenue growth in value-added products. Among the initiatives driving this are an IPTV crew infotainment solution that received its first order prior to its official launch and a customer portal for government clients that allows them to schedule and track bandwidth usage.

Shaper also built on CapRock’s acquisition of Arrowhead Global Solutions, as CapRock’s government-related revenues jumped 35 percent. The company captured a task order under the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) Satellite Transmission Services-Global (DSTS-G) contract to provide the Iraqi Ministry of Defense an end-to-end VSAT network solution, increasing CapRock’s responsibility from two networks and 38 sites to five networks and more than 150 terminals. CapRock also expanded its work under the DISN Access Transport Services (DATS) Contract. The effort to support the Defense Department’s telecom requirements and demand for high-capacity bandwidth represents more than 25 percent of the government division’s revenue, compared to 4 percent when the contract was acquired as part of Arrowhead. Shaper also was instrumental in leading CapRock to make upfront investments in commercial X-band service, and in 2009, the company deployed 200MHz of capacity.

The government team also launched CommandAccess, a military-grade commercial subscription service similar to those offered to CapRock commercial customers.

Shaper also expanded CapRock’s business around the globe, entering and providing service in 35 new countries.