SkyREPORT.COM News Headlines
News Update For 12/21/99
PanAmSat Prepares For Galaxy Launch
PanAmSat's Galaxy XI satellite is ready for its flight today from Kourou, French Guiana. The trip, scheduled to begin between 7:50 and 8 p.m. Eastern Time, will take place aboard an Ariane rocket. Galaxy XI, the 10th satellite in PanAmSat's U.S. fleet and its 20th worldwide, represents the first part of the company's comprehensive expansion and backup effort. Between now and mid-2001, the satellite service provider plans to place seven additional satellites into orbit. The Galaxy launch also will support the company's North American cable neighborhood. There's another historical aspect to the flight. Galaxy XI, with 64 transponders and an end-of-life power of more than 10 kilowatts, will be the largest commercial communications satellite put into space, according to manufacturer Hughes Space and Communications.
Is TSAT Back?
TCI Satellite, once part of the PrimeStar business, is surfacing again on Wall Street. TSAT's new deal with Liberty Media sent its stock out of the doldrums and into the $15 range Monday. Volume for the stock rose to 4.2 million, almost seven times its three-month daily average. Shares for TSAT, which essentially has had no day-to-day operations for the past several months, hit rock bottom after PrimeStar was sold to DirecTV earlier in the year. Under a deal announced late last week, TSAT and Liberty will work on a joint venture centered on businesses delivering Internet and data via satellite. The agreement follows Liberty's $425 million investment in Lockheed Martin's Astrolink wireless broadband venture, scheduled to begin service in 2003. The recent moves compelled observers to issue opinions on the stocks involved. TSAT was rated a new buy by analyst Richard R. Read at Credit Lyonnais. He placed a 12-month target price at $20 per share. Janco Partners said in a research brief that, "We continue to aggressively recommend the purchase of the portfolio, Liberty Media, as a diversified content play with currency vehicles for Internet (Liberty Digital) and satellite assets. In another Wall Street development, financially troubled ICO Global Communications said its stock would no longer trade on the NASDAQ market. ICO, which is getting fresh help from cellular phone pioneer Craig McCaw, filed for bankruptcy protection in August.
Zenith-DirecTV Ready HDTV Boxes
The first HDTV compatible receivers from Zenith Electronics and DirecTV are set to debut next month in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. The set-top boxes, which will go on sale in the fall of 2000, are Zenith's first digital satellite product for the U.S. market. The agreement between the two companies also stipulates that Zenith can incorporate DirecTV Plus receivers with HDTV programming reception capability in its high definition television sets. Bill Casamo, executive vice president for DirecTV, said "Zenith continues to build on an 80-year heritage of television leadership with its entry into the digital and high definition satellite television market." Based in Glenview, Ill., Zenith is a long-time producer of electronic entertainment products. Since November 1999, Zenith has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of LG Electronics, a $9 billion global leader in electronics and digital technologies.
Digital Boosts BSkyB Subs
British Sky Broadcasting expects to wrap up the year with 4 million home satellite subscribers, a number that includes both analog and digital customers. That number could grow to 5 million at the end of 2000, according to Broadcast magazine and its interview with BSkyB Chief Executive Tony Ball. The British satellite powerhouse also plans to switch off analog signals at the end of 2000, two years ahead of initial plans. Ball said subscribers are switching to digital faster than expected, and that compelled the company to speed up the analog cut-off. BSkyB had 3.58 million satellite customers as of Sept. 30, of which 1.28 million were digital subscribers. Meanwhile, BSkyB also praised the British government's rejection of a digital license fee proposed by the BBC. "This report is a devastating indictment of the proposal for a digital poll tax, and it clearly rejects the BBC's demands for massive extra funding," Ball said in a statement. "The case outlined by the committee is clear. The tax is unfair because it forces customers to pay for minority BBC digital channels which they may not want."