Satellite Executive Briefing 1 April 2012 Industry Trends, News Analysis, Market Intelligence and Opportunities Vol. 5 No. 4 April 2012 Navigating the ‘Great Content Shift’ by Elisabeth Tweedie T he theme of this year’s NAB to be held this month in Las Vegas is “the great content shift.” If you haven’t attended the NAB in the last five years, you’ll hardly recog- nize it now. The focus is still on tra- ditional broadcasting, but it has since incorporated the many changes in how content is created, managed and dis- tributed in the new multiplatform en- vironment. The NAB now covers Over -the-Top (OTT), IPTV and other new and emerging technologies. OTT, IPTV, cord cutting, cord shaving no matter which variant and what you call it, it is regarded as a threat to tra- ditional TV, whether satellite, cable or OTA, but how imminent and how real is that threat? The 2011 Video over Internet survey from Accenture which covers the US, Brazil, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia states that between 2009 and 2013 IPTV households will increase by 35%. In the same time period sat- ellite TV households will increase by 11% and cable households by 2%, interestingly their projection for OTT was only 5%. To put these figures in perspective the 35% growth will result in 59 million IPTV households, the 2% cable growth will result in 473 million cable house- holds and there will be 170 million satellite TV households and only 37 million OTT households. Put it another way – if IPTV continues a growth rate of 35% in eight years there will be more IPTV households than the combined cable and satellite households today. So yes, the rapid growth rate cannot be ignored, but what is also relevant, and often over- looked in these discussions, is the amount of time spent watching video from the dif- ferent sources. 85% of TV content in the US is still viewed live according to a report from Nielsen in Febru- ary of this year. Time-shifted TV using a DVR accounts for another 8%. While that leaves 7% of TV being viewed by other means, the total amount of time each person spends viewing live or time-shifted TV has actually increased by 19 minutes from the same time period in the previous year. Overall in the US time spent watching lin- ear and time-shifted TV is 146.8 and 10.9 hours per month respectively. This compares with 8.8 hours spent watching video on the internet or a mobile phone. The Accenture report similarly showed that across all age groups and geographies 92% of con- sumers watched TV via traditional sources (cable, Continued on page 4 What’s Inside From the Editor…....3 Executive Round- table : The Maritime Satellite Market…....8 Back & Forth with Lou Zacharilla: Bill Tillson, COO Encompass Digital Media……………....17 The How and Why of RFI in Oil and Gas by Martin Jarrold...30 Events Calendar....18 Products/Services MarketPlace………20 Industry Briefs…...24 Market Briefs….….28 Show Reports: Satellite 2012 & Cabsat 2012……....32 Vital Statistics…....37 Stock Index……….38 This year’s NAB will be show- casing the new multiplatform media environment. (image courtesy of NAB)
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Satellite Executive Briefing 1 April 2012
Industry Trends, News Analysis, Market Intelligence and Opportunities
Vol. 5 No. 4 April 2012
Navigating the ‘Great Content Shift’
by Elisabeth Tweedie
T he theme of this year’s NAB to be held this
month in Las Vegas is “the great content
shift.” If you haven’t attended the NAB in
the last five years, you’ll hardly recog-
nize it now. The focus is still on tra-
ditional broadcasting, but it has since
incorporated the many changes in how
content is created, managed and dis-
tributed in the new multiplatform en-
vironment. The NAB now covers Over
-the-Top (OTT), IPTV and other new
and emerging technologies.
OTT, IPTV, cord cutting, cord shaving
no matter which variant and what you
call it, it is regarded as a threat to tra-
ditional TV, whether satellite, cable or
OTA, but how imminent and how real
is that threat?
The 2011 Video over Internet survey
from Accenture which covers the US,
Brazil, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and
Australia states that between 2009 and
2013 IPTV households will increase
by 35%. In the same time period sat-
ellite TV households will increase by
11% and cable households by 2%,
interestingly their projection for OTT was only 5%.
To put these figures in perspective the 35% growth
will result in 59 million IPTV households, the 2%
cable growth will result in 473 million cable house-
holds and there will be 170 million satellite TV
households and only 37 million OTT households.
Put it another way – if IPTV continues a growth rate
of 35% in eight years there will be more IPTV
households than the combined cable and satellite
households today.
So yes, the rapid growth rate
cannot be ignored, but what is
also relevant, and often over-
looked in these discussions, is
the amount of time spent
watching video from the dif-
ferent sources. 85% of TV
content in the US is still
viewed live according to a
report from Nielsen in Febru-
ary of this year. Time-shifted
TV using a DVR accounts for
another 8%. While that
leaves 7% of TV being
viewed by other means, the
total amount of time each
person spends viewing live or
time-shifted TV has actually
increased by 19 minutes from
the same time period in the
previous year. Overall in the
US time spent watching lin-
ear and time-shifted TV is
146.8 and 10.9 hours per
month respectively. This
compares with 8.8 hours
spent watching video on the internet or a mobile
phone. The Accenture report similarly showed that
across all age groups and geographies 92% of con-
sumers watched TV via traditional sources (cable,
Continued on page 4
What’s Inside From the Editor…....3
Executive Round-table: The Maritime Satellite Market…....8 Back & Forth with Lou Zacharilla: Bill Tillson, COO Encompass Digital Media……………....17 The How and Why of RFI in Oil and Gas by Martin Jarrold...30 Events Calendar....18 Products/Services MarketPlace………20 Industry Briefs…...24 Market Briefs….….28 Show Reports: Satellite 2012 & Cabsat 2012……....32 Vital Statistics…....37 Stock Index……….38
This year’s NAB will be show-casing the new multiplatform media environment. (image courtesy of NAB)
EDITORIAL Virgil Labrador Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Elisabeth Tweedie Associate Editor [email protected] Contributing Editors: North America: Robert Bell, Bruce Elbert, Dan Freyer, Lou Zacharilla Latin America: B. H. Schneiderman Europe: Martin Jarrold, London Jan Grøndrup-Vivanco, Paris Roxana Dunnette, Geneva Asia-Pacific: Peter Galace, Manila Tom van der Heyden, Hong Kong Riaz Lamak, India
Navigating the “Great Content Shift’... From page 1
“...for most –but not all–consumers it will be a case of OTT and IPTV providing complementary video viewing and not substitution to the extent that satellite and cable TV are dropped completely…”
A recent European initiative is Hybrid Broadband Broadcast Television (HbbTV) supported by SES and Eutelsat, The viewer gets one remote to control one screen as in linear TV so making the source, which could be cable, satellite, OTA and broadband “invisible” to the user. (image: HbbTV)
The Maritime Satellite Market by B.H. Schneiderman
T hree-fourths of the Earth’s surface are covered by oceans and 90 percent of the world’s com-merce go through them. Satellite communications is the only means of communication among the various vessels operating in the high seas. Euroconsult has forecasted that the number of
satellite communications terminals in the global maritime market will nearly double over the next de-cade, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of seven percent over the 10-year period. While MSS terminals are still expected to account for the majority of terminals deployed over the decade, VSAT service providers should gain significant market share in terms of revenue in the coming 10 years. Euroconsult said the number of terminals used for global maritime satellite communications grew at around six percent in 2011, while revenues at the satellite operator level increased by over seven percent. The total size of the market reached about 317,000 active terminals in 2011 that gen-erated more than US$ 400 million in revenues at the service provider level. Established MSS services and especially the emerging VSAT business contributed to the overall growth of the maritime satellite communications market.
To shed light on the trends in the maritime satellite market, Satellite Executive Briefing invited several key executives from some of the leading companies in the maritime field. We asked Jay Yass, Vice- President, Global Accounts and Strategic Sales of Intelsat; Frank Coles, President, Inmarsat Mari-time; Joel Thompson, Vice-President, Product Management, Iridium; Terry Neumann, Director, Corporate Marketing of iDIRECT; Atul Chawla, Product Marketing Manager of Sea Tel Products, Cobham Antenna Systems; Sharon Goldenberg, Senior Director, Product Marketing of Orbit Sat-ellite Communications: Jim Dodez, Vice-President, Marketing and Strategic Planning, KVH Indus-tries; and Noah Chung, International Sales Director of KNS Inc. to share their views in a roundtable discussion on this important market. Follows are excerpts of the discussion:
Phot
o co
urte
sy o
f KN
S
Satellite Executive Briefing 9 April 2012
Satellite Executive Briefing (SEB):
What trends do you see shaping up for
the maritime satellite market in the next
few years?
Jay Yass, Vice President, Global Ac-
counts and Strategic Sales of Intelsat:
The demand for broadband connectivity
has increased significantly over the past
few years. Demand is expected to grow
steadily, with traffic driven by new ap-
plications as well as continued growth
in sectors such as oil and gas and cruise
sectors. Market studies predict growth
around the globe, with especially strong
demand in the Asia-Pacific region.
There are several factors and applica-
tions driving the growth in maritime
broadband demand. When you look at a
vessel as an expensive node on the cor-
porate network, maritime broadband is
a necessity not a nice-to-have. Auto-
mated on-board control sys-
tems, electronic charts and real-
time weather require reliable,
cost-effective, always-on broad-
band connectivity. Emergence
of IP M2M applications go be-
yond asset tracking to allow
fleets to gain efficiency through
real-time monitoring of key
systems. This trend is bolstered
by cloud computing, which also
requires always-on affordable commu-
nications. And finally, traditional appli-
cations like VPN, VoIP and GSM are
growing even faster due to devices like
smart phones and tablet computers.
Frank Coles, President, Inmarsat
Maritime: The over-riding trend is for
more and better access to data commu-
nications; whether it is for operational
reasons – such as navigational informa-
tion, real-time weather updates or re-
mote engine monitoring – or for crew
welfare and communications, which is
growing in importance as shipping
companies seek to retain their highly-
trained personnel. Many ships are now
in effect floating nodes on a corporate
network, and as such high quality data
communications is a crucial enabler.
There are two other key issues in the
market right now. One is the depend-
ability and longevity of satellite opera-
tors; ship owners want to know that the
communications service they install
today can be relied upon to deliver a
high-quality service tomorrow. Inmar-
sat is a solid business with an advanced
global network that is operational now,
and with very clear plans for the future
– all of which are fully funded and cur-
rently ahead of schedule. The other is-
sue is price. Obviously ship owners are
sensitive to the cost of satellite commu-
nications, but more than anything they
want an element of predictability – they
want to fix their costs. Inmarsat has
recently overhauled our pricing struc-
ture to not only bring prices down but
also to introduce various packages with
fixed Gigabyte allowances.
Joel Thompson, Vice-President,
Product Management, Iridium: A
decade ago, the primary use of ship-to-
shore satellite communications was
voice traffic, with relatively high per-
minute rates for phone calls. These
days, we are seeing much more data
traffic for crew email, text messaging,
social media and Internet browsing, as
well as exchanging data files with the
home office. As users all over the world
continue to expect higher-capacity
global connectivity, the demand for
these types of data communications
services should only continue to in-
crease in the years to come. To meet
this demand and to address maritime
communications costs, a large number
of VSAT network operators are now
offering bundled services under a fixed
monthly charge. The use of short-burst
data for applications such as GPS track-
ing and status monitoring of containers
and shipboard equipment has also in-
creased.
Iridium is working closely with major
VSAT network operators to our bundle
Iridium PilotTM device and our Iridium
OpenPort® service, the most afford-
able, high-value maritime broadband
solution on the market, with VSAT net-
work operators’ proprietary software
and hardware solutions to offer low-
cost broadband service plans to custom-
ers. This combination is an industry
first that enables customers to use a
VSAT system backed by the reliability
of the Iridium satellite network, giving
them a new level of customization and
control that was not available previ-
ously. Iridium Pilot is optimized to
seamlessly integrate with a vessel’s
VSAT platform to overcome the cover-
age gaps, data-rate constraints and com-
paratively higher prices of other L-band
mobile satellite service providers. Irid-
ium currently offers VSAT companion
packages with partners KVH Industries
Inc. and Vizada, but we expect to add
other maritime partners later this year.
Terry Neumann Director,
Corporate Marketing of
iDIRECT: The next five
years will be very exciting
for the maritime satellite
market. The use of VSAT
technology has finally taken
hold and you are seeing it
implemented across many
different sectors of the mari-
time market. C-band and
Ku-band services have provided reli-
able, higher speed connectivity options
for this market that legacy L-band solu-
tions couldn’t offer. With the expected
launch of spot beam based satellites,
especially in Ka-band the maritime
market will see a greater amount of
capacity available and more cost effec-
tive services being offered. This will
further open up the for VSAT connec-
tivity to be deployed on more vessels
enabling them to run advanced IP based
business or entertainment applications
while at sea.
Atul Chawla, Product Marketing
Manager of Sea Tel Products, Cob-
ham Antenna Systems: Over the last
five years, C, Ku and L band services
have worked independently and service
providers have built services around
these frequency bands. Over the next
five years, we will see “the great mash-
ing” where these bands will become
somewhat irrelevant to the end-user.
Executive Roundtable
“...These days, we are seeing much more data traffic for crew email, text messag-ing, social media and Internet browsing, as well as exchanging data files with the home office…” -Joel Thompson, Vice-President, Product Management, Iridium
“...This is an exciting time for maritime satellite communications providers like KVH. Commercial mariners are adopting advanced onboard commu-nication and crew welfare solutions more than ever before, making satellite communications for commercial vessels a key growth opportunity for enterprise solutions..” -Jim Dodez, Vice-President, Marketing and Strate-gic Planning, KVH Industries
B. H. Schneiderman is the Prin-cipal of Telematics Business Consultants. He can be reached at: [email protected]
KVH’s TracPhone V3 VSAT antenna. (photo courtesy of KVH)
Satellite Executive Briefing 17 April 2012
Back and Forth with Teleport Executive of the Year Bill Tillson
Executive Spotlight
by Lou Zacharilla
O n February 29th, Bill Tillson, President and Chief
Operating Officer of Encompass Digital Media in
the United States was named the teleport industry’s
2012 Executive of the Year by World Teleport Association.
In a ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by SES, Tillson
was honored by his peers, including most of the world’s
leading teleport operators, satellite companies and technol-
ogy providers.
The German writer Goethe once said, “Tell me who your
friends are and I will tell you who YOU are.” What was
noticeable about Bill, was the degree to which his customers
and competitors, among them the most respected names in
the industry, are friends and admirers. Many were seated at
the Encompass table during the awards luncheon, including
Ed Horowitz, director of U.S. Space, along with Vincent H.
Roberts, Chief Technology Officer at the Disney/ABC Tele-
vision Group. Both had submitted letters on Bill’s behalf,
each of which began with what they believed to be his most
striking characteristics. They included words such as
“integrity,” “honesty” and “incredibly smart.” Tillson was
offered the highest accolade by Horowitz, who said that he
was a person “demonstrating the best qualities a human be-
ing can possess.”
These are not generally the characteristics the old business
stereotype would offer up to a guy who led a series of acqui-
sitions in a tough industry. These included the purchase of
Andrita Studios in Los Angeles, and finished with Bill and
his group picking up the tab for the content distribution busi-
ness of Ascent Media. In the process, Encompass has
emerged as a teleport operator and digital media services
company with a global footprint. It is a major player now.
Will the acquisitions work in the long-term? If anyone can
do it, friends say, it will be Bill. Is he building a new type of
teleport-enabled operation? What is the lesson for teleport
operators and want-to-be’s with ground assets?
In the past 12 months he has expanded the focus of his com-
pany beyond sports, media and entertainment ,and has
launched 60 new channels. The company today delivers
nearly 285,000 transmissions across its 132 antennas, fiber
and an IP backbone network.
As I prepared my remarks as Master of Ceremonies for the
WTA luncheon, I kept thinking, “It is hard to bust the chops
of a guy like this.” But it was easy to choose him as the sub-
ject for this segment of “Back and Forth.” And, as his testi-
monial letters also said, “he has a great sense of humor.”
Excerpts of our exchange follows:
Lou: On February
29th you were named
Teleport Executive of
the Year. When you
were named, what
was your first reac-
tion?
Tillson: I was very
flattered. The execu-
tives who represent
the WTA members
are all senior execu-
tives in our industry
and it is very special
to be honored by
them, because they
are my peers.
Lou: At the Luncheon you spoke about having been on both
the client and the operator side of the business. This pre-
sumably gives you insight into the markets Encompass
serves. How much of a factor was this experience as you
were putting together the acquisitions and strategic plan for
today’s Encompass?
Tillson: The experience of having served 18 years represent-
ing the major media companies was invaluable. At Encom-
pass we work very hard to instill in our employees the per-
spective that ultimately we work for our customers. Ulti-
mately our customer’s success is critical to Encompass’ suc-
cess. That is not lip-service, because it is easy to say. It is
something that I have built my professional belief system
around.
Lou: At the Awards Luncheon I prefaced my remarks with a
quote from a book called Everything is Illuminated. “The
great advances are made not by individuals so much as by
environments. It is not a coincidence that innovations tend
to come in bundles.” Is there an environment at Encompass
that will drive innovations?
Tillson: I think so. We try to foster two perspectives, or
stages, which allow a platform for innovation. First, we
must provide the infrastructure, technology and services to
support any innovations our customers require, and then we
must deploy new technologies as services for our customers
so that they can remain competitive.
Lou: I note the key phrase “technologies as services,” rather
than simply technology for its own sake. Let’s talk about the
business platform for the delivery of services. Through ac-
quisition, you are able to offer geographically diverse disas-
Bill Tillson (right) accepting the 2012 Teleport Executive of the Year Award from SSPI Director of Development, Lou Zacharilla. (SSPI photo)
April 2012 18 Satellite Executive Briefing
April 14 – 19, 2012, 2012 NAB Show® Conferences: April 14 – 19, 2012, Exhibits: April 16 – 19, 2012, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA e-mail: [email protected], web: www.nabshow.com
May 8, 9, 10, 2012, SPACECRAFT TECHNOLOGY EXPO 2012, LA Convention Center, LA, California. US Toll Free: +1 877 842 6289, International Callers: +44 1306 871348, e-mail: [email protected] web: www.spacetechexpo.com/
Events Calendar
ter recovery options for network origination and content ar-
chival storage. Aside from the obvious advantage of protec-
tion for clients, are there any innovations you foresee in
these two areas of service that would keep a competitor from
entertaining the idea of doing the same thing in your markets
over time?
Tillson: The innovations come, as I say, through the two-
phase process. To be able to offer services at a viable cost
you need multi-channel facilities in geographically diverse
locations. That’s a strategic decision. Each of these facili-
ties must have a large fixed customer and channel base that
covers the enormous overhead associated with the technical
infrastructure, such as redundant HVAC, UPS, generators,
security and all the rest of that stuff; which you know from
your years in the teleport industry. Add to that a requirement
for an engineering and operations staff that goes around the
clock which is needed to run the facilities in order to provide
these services and you have the basic scenario. Not so easy,
right?
Lou: If it was more would be doing it. So the capital costs
and requirements create a barrier to entry?
Tillson: Yes.
Lou: The investments that were made in a global, high-end
facility infrastructure allow you to keep existing clients and
develop new ones. It is a truism that tier one customers, for
the most part, carefully evaluate vendors and partners and,
once committed, will stay committed so long as the pricing,
relationship and investment in technology remain adequate.
Tillson: We are fortunate to have world-class facilities
around the world with a customer base made up primarily of
tier one broadcasters. Now, the falling cost of digital storage
and the emergence of IP playout have materially driven our
disaster recovery services as well, allowing us to provide real
time network backup that includes the playout of long form
and interstitial media, as well as commercials.
Lou: I suspect that was part of the plan and that you did your
homework. You are said to be a very insightful guy with
regard to the trends in the market. To that point, Euroconsult
recently issued a report which said that the satellite industry
is set for a decade-long growth spurt. First, do you agree?
Second, what can teleport operators do to ensure that they
ride along with this projected growth?
Tillson: We agree with Euroconsult that the satellite industry
will have strong growth for at least the next decade. We
believe this will be driven by, among other factors, new
channel launches, SD to HD conversion, high growth mar-
kets in Latin America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and
emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East. In addi-
tion, the HD backhaul of premium sports events to multiple
territories and the demand for breaking HD news coverage
will drive more growth.
Lou: How about 3D in this mix?
Tillson: At some point 3D distribution will add to this
growth. It will be focused, we believe, on special event tele-
casts in the initial period.
Lou: There is always angst, despite the positive performance
of the total industry, that teleports are not quite sure where to
point themselves. How can teleports, generally, participate
in this overall industry growth?
Tillson: To participate in this growth, teleports will have to
emerge as multi-media processing facilities offering large
bandwidth connectivity to fiber and the Internet in addition
to the traditional satellite option. The teleport of the future
will have to provide transcoding, storage and streaming in
multiple formats as well as value added origination services,
in addition to traditional compression, uplink and downlink
services.
(To be continued in the next issue, watch out for it…)
Executive Spotlight
“...To participate in this growth, teleports will have to emerge as multi-media processing facilities offering large band-width connectivity to fiber and the Internet in addition to the traditional satellite option. The teleport of the future will have to provide transcoding, storage and streaming in multiple formats as well as value added origination services…”
Lou Zacharilla is the Director of De-velopment of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). He can be reached at: [email protected]
riod, terrestrial TV lost nearly 16 million homes,
while cable lost over 2 million. IPTV – the TV
distribution over tele-communication networks in
IP format – has grown from a very low level to some 16 mil-
lion households.
The Satellite Monitor is presented annually by SES and is
based on primary research in 35 European and North African
countries. The study is based on more than 62,000 inter-
views, conducted by leading market research companies led
by TNS Infratest, Germany.
T h e m a i n
growth mar-
kets for satel-
lite in 2011
were the UK,
G e r m a n y ,
Ukraine, Po-
land and Italy.
T h e m a i n
growth drivers
are the devel-
opment o f
digital recep-
tion and High
D e f i n i t i o n
(HD). Satellite
today is the leading digital infrastructure, reaching nearly 44
percent of all 186 million digital TV homes in Europe. The
digitalization rate of satellite is 97 percent, compared to 70
percent in terrestrial reception and 48 percent in cable.
The latest Satellite Monitor shows that ASTRA is extending
its position in the European markets. Around 142 million TV
households are served by ASTRA, 7 million more than the
year before and 25 million more than four years ago.
More than half of the European TV homes (57 percent) re-
ceive their signals from ASTRA. 73 percent of all European
satellite homes are ASTRA households, a total of 62 million.
ASTRA is also the leading HD platform in Europe. Over 23
million of the total 29 million satellite HD households in
Europe are ASTRA households. The ASTRA Satellite Sys-
tem transmits 267 HD channels.
Worldwide, SES broadcasts more than 1,200 HD channels
on its fleet of 50 satellites and reaches 258 million TV
households.
“This success
confirms our
view that
satellite re-
ception is the
most attrac-
tive and fu-
t u r e - p r o o f
mode for
households to
watch TV”,
said Norbert
Hölzle, Sen-
ior Vice
P r e s i d e n t
Commercial
Europe,.
“The trend in Germany, where satellite overtook cable for
the first time in history, is confirmed in the UK as well as in
Europe overall, where satellite outgrew the other reception
modes,” said Hölzle.
“The number and variety of channels, the quality of the
broadcast, and the large reach of satellite remain compelling
arguments for households to decide for a satellite dish. The
factual growth of satellite and ASTRA in the digital world
confirms their leading role. It puts us in a strong position to
compete with other networks and combine our strengths
with DSL and broadband reception. The combination of
both in the connected TV will be the best of all possible
worlds for the TV viewer,” Hölzle added.
2011 2010 % Change
Cable 69.2 71.0 -3 %
Satellite 83.6 79.1 +6%
Terrestrial 79.4 83.7 -5%
IPTV 16.0 12.1 +33%
Households in Millions, Europe
ASTRA satellite dish farm in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. More than half of TV homes in Europe (57%) receive their signals from ASTRA. (photo: Satellite Executive Briefing)
Satellite Executive Briefing 29 April 2012
MarketMarketMarketBriefsBriefsBriefs
Key industry trends and opportunities.
2011 TV Shipment Fall in 2011
I n 2011 worldwide TV shipments fell for the first time
since NPD DisplaySearch began tracking global TV ship-
ments in 2004, slipping 0.3% to 247.7M units. As reported in
the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment
and Forecast Report, LCD TV shipments increased by 7% to
just over 205M units in 2011—a substantial slowdown from
the double digit growth in previous years.
With plasma TV shipments declining almost
7% in 2011 to 17.2M units, the largest de-
cline yet, and CRT shipments falling 34%,
LCD growth was not enough to offset these
declines.
“The causes of slow demand in 2011 were
complex, and although LCD TV showed
growth, results were well below industry expectations.”
noted Paul Gagnon, NPD DisplaySearch Director of North
America TV Research. Gagnon added, “The low level of
shipments were partially caused by excessive inventory lev-
els early in 2011 for the US and European markets, as well
as a sharp drop in demand in Japan following the end of the
government sponsored Eco-Points program that caused a
surge in replacement activity during 2009-2010.”
Q4’11 shipments were down 4% Y/Y globally to 74.2M
units, with LCD TV shipments rising just 1% (also the low-
est growth rate since NPD DisplaySearch began tracking
shipments). Plasma TV units were down 8% and CRTs were
down 43%. The decline in units was most pronounced in
Japan and Western Europe with only mild growth in North
America. Collectively, TV shipments in the developed re-
gions (North America, Japan and Western
Europe) declined 21% Y/Y in Q4’11. TV
shipment growth in emerging regions con-
tinues to be strong though, increasing 12%
Y/Y in Q4’11 with LCD TV unit shipments
rising 20%.
The LCD TV shipment share increased to a
record 86.5% of global TV shipments in
Q4’11, up from 83% in Q3’11 and 82% one year ago. LCD
TV shipment growth is strongest in larger screen sizes with
very aggressively priced models shipping for the holiday
season. Shipments of 40” and larger LCD TVs rose 20% Y/
Y while sub-40” fell 7%. Average prices for 40/42” LCD
TVs were down 11% Y/Y, and 60”+ average LCD TV prices
were down more than 16% Y/Y. LED backlight penetration
continues to grow slowly, rising above 50% of LCD units for
the first time in Q4’11, although only about three percentage
points higher than in Q3’11.
B roadband and IPTV growth spiked
to a high in 2011 with rates higher
than at any time in the last five years,
according to year-end figures published
by the Broadband Forum. Overall,
broadband growth is estimated at
65,493,596 lines, bringing the global
total to 597,322,636, a quarterly in-
crease of 2.6% - and an annual growth
rate of 12.3%. The figures, prepared for
the Broadband Forum by broadband
industry analysts Point Topic, also high-
light the strongest ever quarter of
growth in IPTV which is today’s most
demanding application for high speed
broadband.
“This is an exciting return to higher
growth figures and points to a strength-
ening in the broadband market,” com-
mented Robin Mersh, CEO of the
Broadband Forum. “With a number of
active new markets coming online and
standards based deployments becoming
common - we are seeing broadband
move into the daily lives of more and
more people the world over. A great
example of this is the exceptional
growth in some key Eastern European
markets, such as Russia, Poland and the
Ukraine.”
Russia proved to be a peak performer in
2011 in both Broadband and IPTV fig-
ures, with over 36% growth in Broad-
band and more than doubling its IPTV
subscribers from 495,500 to 1,145,000
in just one year.
China remained the top region for TV
shipments at 21%, unchanged from the
previous quarter, totaling 15.6M units
for the quarter and 49M units for the
year. China also had strong growth in
2011, with shipments increasing 19%
Y/Y in Q4’11, the highest of any re-
gion. More than 90% of TV sets in the
region were LCD as of 2011. North
America was the second largest region
for TV shipments, accounting for
20.5% of shipments in Q4’11, and was
the only developed region to experience
Y/Y shipment growth.
3D continues to show gains worldwide
as a percentage of TV shipments, post-
ing gains in every region, but most im-
pressively in China and Europe. In a
somewhat surprising result, 3D penetra-
tion continues to be lackluster in North
America, accounting for just 9% of
Q4’11 TV shipments 2011.
2011 Broadband Growth, The Fastest in 5 Years
Go to
www.satellitemarkets.com to get the latest updates,
T he satellite industry will continues to grow in the
coming years albeit at a more modest pace. This was
the consensus among senior satellite industry execu-
tives speaking at the Satellite 2012 Conference and Exhibi-
tion in Washington, D.C. and Cabsat/Satellite MENA 2012
in Dubai, UAE held last month. There are some concerns
with the developing economic crisis in Europe, where three
of the four major satellite operators are based, but the mood
is decidedly bullish.
After having weathered the Great Recession of 2007-09, the
satellite industry is poised for more growth as increasing
bandwidth requirements from broadband, HD and other new
applications are driving demand for satellite transponders
and services. “We have seen how resilient the satellite in-
dustry is in difficult times,” said Romain Bausch, CEO of
SES, at the opening general session at Satellite 2012 mod-
estly dubbed “The Big Four: At the Center of the Satellite
Universe.”
With the mature markets of
North America and Europe
projected to remain flat in
the next few years, satellite
operators are focusing their
efforts in the emerging mar-
kets of the Middle East,
Africa and Latin America.
This was evident at the Cab-
sat show in Dubai held just
two weeks before Satellite
2012. The Middle East/
North Africa (MENA) mar-
ket grew by 20% in just the
last year and this was clearly
demonstrated by the activity
at the conference and exhib-
its at Cabsat.
“The Middle East broadcast-
ing, digital media and satellite industries are considered
within the most lucrative in the world. CABSAT is the ideal
platform for industry professionals worldwide to come to-
gether and explore new avenues in this growing market,”
said Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Center,
organizers of Cabsat.
The most recent edition of the Cabsat exhibition held in Du-
bai from February 28-March 1 was its largest to date with
over 800 exhibitors from 55 countries including 14 national
pavilions. What is even more amazing is that the show
added 173 new exhibitors just in the last year—an almost 20
percent increase from 2011 (which coincidentally was the
same growth rate for the MENA region last year).
The MENA region is leading the field in Ka-Band satellites
launched, with more coming in the near term. Ka-Band sat-
ellites provide more bandwidth and are ideal for broadband
applications. NSR Senior Analyst Claude Rousseau, Senior
Analyst for NSR, who spoke at a panel at the GVF Satellite
Markets Summit during Cabsat, is estimating if the current
rate of satellite launches continue, oversupply can happen by
2015 or 2016. Oversupply can lead to a price war which
will drive down prices of transponders. The recent number
of launches has already seen transponder prices dropping
incrementally in the region and that trend will likely con-
tinue as more High Throughput Satellites (HTS) come on
board.
Apart from the looming debt crisis in Europe, several execu-
tives are concerned about the slowdown in investments in
new satellites. The number of commercial GEO satellites
ordered dropped from 28 in 2010 to only 17 in 2011. De-
spite the drop in new satellite
orders, there is nagging fear
that the recent rash of new
satellites deployed in the
merging markets of the Middle
East, Africa and Latin Amer-
ica can lead to an transponder
oversupply in those regions.
The reported success of re-
cently-launched high through-
put Ka-Band satellites such as
Viasat-1 in North America,
KA-SAT in Europe and
Yahsat in the Middle East and
Africa has spurred on other
Ka-Band initiatives from other
satellite operators such as
Arabsat, Hispasat and startup
operator Newsat, among oth-
ers. SES is particularly bull-
ish about its investment in the O3b all-Ka-Band satellite
constellation which is scheduled to launch its first eight
satellites in 2013.
The Ka-Band satellites, which have up to 10 times more
capacity than conventional C– and Ku-Band satellites, are
counting on the growing demands for broadband access in
many areas of the world underserved by terrestrial media.
One of the biggest buzz at Satellite 2012 was made by Boe-
ing’s announcement of its new electric-powered satellite
platform 702SP series which promises to cut manufacturing
Satellite 2012 and CABSAT 2012
The GVF Satellite Markets Summit held during Cabsat featured various panels on trends and opportunities MENA satellite market. Pictured here was the panel on “The Dynamics of Ka-Band in the MENA Region” with panelists from left: Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief, Satellite Markets and Research; Rash Jhanjee, Director of Enter-prise, Inmarsat Express; Mike Fiddes, Sales Director, Mid-dle East and Africa, Avanti Communications and Jean-Francois Fremaux, Business Development Director,
Go online and view videos from Satellite 2012 and Cabsat/Satellite MENA 2012
www.satellitemarkets.com/current
Satellite 2012
Samer Halawi, CEO, Thuraya; Sean Busby, Executive Vice-President, TBC Integration; Doron Elinav, VP-Marketing, Gilat Satellite Networks; Thomas van den Dreiessche, Director of Vertical Markets and Slava Fray-ter, VP-Sales, Americas of Newtec ; Amir Carmeli, VP-Sales, Amos Spacecom; Paul Scardino, VP-Sales and Marketing, Globecomm
Cabsat 2012
Steve Collar, CEO, O3B Networks; Thomas Wiesner, Director of Business Development, Work Microwave; Mark Shadbolt, Sales Director, Sis Live; Giorgio Gia-comini, Account Manager-Middle East, Globecast
Hispasat/Hispamar Satellites……..............…...7 www.hispasat.com IBC 2012……………………...............................33 www.ibc.org NAB 2012…………………..…...........................15 www.nabshow.com Satcom Africa 2012…………...........................25 www.satcomafrica.com The SpaceConnection......................................6 www.thespaceconnection.com Walton Enterprises..........................................40 www.de-ice.com Wavestream.....................................cover and 2 www.wavestream.com Work Microwave.................................................5 www.work-microwave.de
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
T he universe of smart connected devices, including PCs, media
tablets, and smartphones, saw ship-ments of more than 916 million units and revenues surpassing US$ 489 billion dollars in 2011, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Looking ahead, unit shipments for
smart connected devices should top
1.1 billion worldwide in 2012. By 2016,
IDC predicts shipments will reach 1.84
billion units, more than double the
2011 figure, as consumers and busi-
ness of all shapes and sizes around
the world are showing a nearly insatia-
ble appetite for smart connected de-
vices. This works out to a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4%
for the five-year forecast period.
Nearly 1 Billion Smart Connected Devices Shipped in 2011
Source: Ooyala Video Index 2011 http://www.ooyala.com/online-video-
index/2011-q4?
April 2012 38 Satellite Executive Briefing
Stock Index
The Satellite Markets 25 IndexTM is a composite of 25 publicly-traded satellite companies worldwide with five compa-nies representing each major market segment of the industry: satellite operators; satellite and component manufactur-ers; ground equipment manufacturers; satellite service providers and consumer satellite services. The base data for the Satellite Markets IndexTM is January 2, 2008--the first day of operation for Satellite Market and Research. The Index equals 1,000. The Satellite Markets IndexTM provides a benchmark to gauge the overall health of the satellite industry.