Focus: Broadcasting

"…Via Satellite can’t be merely good, it will have to be better, striving to be the best…" Those were the words of then Editor and Publisher Irl Marshall, in 1986, when he launched Via Satellite magazine to become the definitive trade journal of the then fledgling satellite broadcasting industry. In those days, the business developments...

By Peter J. Brown As Hurricane Katrina approached the U.S. Gulf Coast, she let everyone know that well before a natural disaster occurs, officials need satellite links close at hand. Unfortunately, this lesson was learned the hard way. For months, emergency preparedness officials and satellite industry executives have been aggressively lobbying for more robust communications...

By Nick Mitsis and Jason Bates In a year dominated by IPOs and high-profile mergers, it is easy to characterize 2005 as a year of beginnings instead of a year of accomplishments. True, those business ventures that grabbed daily headlines are signs of greater things to come, but some significant events will indeed hallmark 2005,...

By Gerry Oberst Europe seeks to decrease barriers to the use of satellite networks. Pending before the Electronic Communications Committee of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) are two new decisions that would extend current license exemptions to additional categories of satellite terminals at higher power. The principle is well-established in Europe...

By Peter J. Brown In a world where iPods and Slingboxes are part of a new generation of consumer products, satellite TV and satellite radio service providers continue to deliver value to consumers. Satellite broadband services also remain a favorite for households seeking higher speed access in otherwise underserved or unserved areas. And yet, the...

By James Careless The satellite offices of the major news conglomerates are on the front line for regional, live news coverage that gets global exposure. Today, however, advanced equipment and services requirements from broadcasters who rely on satellite-enabled technology to get the news out are changing. Now more than ever, TV network affiliates depend on...

By Owen D. Kurtin Last year, we predicted that 2004 might go down in history as the year that the satellite business started to rationalize itself, turned the corner of the disastrous first years of the 21st century and positioned itself to take on both terrestrial competition and the challenge of new service offerings going...

By Jason Bates After spending much of the 20th century behind the Iron Curtain, many Central and Eastern European countries are embracing their relatively new economic and political freedoms and joining Western European counterparts in their desire for advanced communications and technology. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are prime targets for expanding commercial...

In 1991, Home Depot was well on its way to conquering the home improvement retail market in the United States. At the time, the retailer was supporting 28,000 employees in 174 stores throughout Georgia, Florida, Texas and New Jersey, and annual sales had soared to $5.1 billion. There seemed to be no end in sight...

I recently attended a summit that, in part, brought to the discussion floor the topic of corporate and government distance learning networks and where the next-generation trends and uses are headed. I was surprised by what the industry analysts had to say: The future minimally involves satellite. This surprised me not because I am the...