Page 1 of 3 123
Results 1 to 10 of 27
  1. asm610 is offline
    Senior Member
    asm610's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: NC Posts: 264
    03-10-2009, 02:48 PM #1

    Just some speculation....

    Is it possible that Liberty would be exploring making a play for Worldspace's assets and entering into an agreement with Sirius for content?


    "Based outside Washington, D.C., WORLDSPACE® (NASDAQ: WRSP) is the world’s only global media and entertainment company positioned to offer a satellite radio experience to consumers in more than 130 countries with five billion people, driving 300 million cars. WORLDSPACE delivers the latest tunes, trends and information from around the world, and around the corner.

    The company’s goal is to deliver an unprecedented variety of high-quality audio entertainment and information to global markets in the Middle East, India, China, Africa and Western Europe. "

    This is PURE speculation on my part......I have no information that this is going on or the regulatory or government hurdles it would have to clear to even be a feasible situation. But I know that MLB, NFL, NBA and NASCAR would love a worldwide listening audience on a pay service that gives them more royalties...and i know that Worldspace is getting ready to sell its assets.

  2. Wirestripper is offline
    Enthusiast
    Wirestripper's Avatar
    Joined: Mar 2009 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 137
    03-10-2009, 02:53 PM #2
    I don't know.......

    If the assets are is good shape and have a good lifespan, It's possible because I have been thinking that Europe, west and East would be fertile ground.

    I think the India operation was spun off and still operating, last I heard.

  3. asm610 is offline
    Senior Member
    asm610's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: NC Posts: 264
    03-10-2009, 02:56 PM #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Wirestripper View Post
    I don't know.......

    If the assets are is good shape and have a good lifespan, It's possible because I have been thinking that Europe, west and East would be fertile ground.

    I think the India operation was spun off and still operating, last I heard.
    Yes that is what I heard as well.

    Here's some info on their satellites. John or Homer would probably know more about the possibilities. I just keep digging for info when I can.




    The orbiting satellites, AfriStar 1 and AsiaStar, and the satellite in storage are Matra Marconi Eurostar 2000+ buses built by Alcatel Space and EADS Astrium, formerly known as Matra Marconi Space. Both are geostationary orbit satellites broadcasting programs in the L-Band frequency (1452-1492 MHz range). Each of the two satellites has three downlink spot beams, with each beam covering approximately 14 million square kilometers of the earth. The AfriStar 1 satellite, launched in October 1998, is located at the 21º East Longitude orbital location with beams covering all regions of Africa, the Mediterranean basin countries, the Middle East and parts of Europe. The AsiaStar satellite, launched in March 2000, is located at the 105º East Longitude orbital location with beams covering India, China, the southern part of Russia, and southeast Asia. Plans to launch a third satellite, AmeriStar (a.k.a. CaribStar), to serve South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean from 95.0° west longitude were not carried out as the L-band frequencies used by 1worldspace are commandeered by the United States Air Force. This satellite was reconfigured and is now known as AfriStar 2.[8] AfriStar 2 was to be launched to 21.0° east longitude in August 2007.[9] This satellite, not yet launched as of the present, is intended to expand coverage for Western Europe in addition to the existing coverage of AfriStar 1, which it will eventually replace. 1worldspace will use ETSI Satellite Digital Radio (SDR) open standard in the new European coverage beam.[10] It is currently in storage at EADS Astrium’s and Thales Alenia Space facilities in Toulouse, France and Stevenage, U.K. A fourth satellite of identical design, for which long lead parts have been procured and partially assembled, is also maintained in storage in Toulouse, France and can be integrated and tested for launch in an abbreviated period of time.[7]


    1worldspace's AfriStar control center in Washington, D.C.
    Original Hitachi 1worldspace receiver
    A BPL 1worldspace receiver on a Stereo SystemEach satellite has a design life of twelve years, with an orbital maneuver life of 15 years, which means that each satellite has been designed and fueled to maintain its assigned orbital position (within 0.1 degrees) for 15 years. After that point, the satellite must be decommissioned. The AfriStar satellite has developed a defect in its solar panels. As a result of this defect, the energy collected by those panels is less than intended. Based upon the past few years, operational experience with this issue and consultations with Astrium, it is believed that the defect's likely effect is limited to potential satellite power inadequacy during solar eclipses. In consultation with Astrium, the company has implemented operational procedures that would extend the useful life of the satellite through careful management of the power generated by the solar arrays. Such procedures, which are expected to be invoked only during the critical eclipse periods, may result in a temporary and relatively insignificant reduction of the power radiated by one or more of its beams with a resulting reduction of the broadcast coverage area

  4. Paratrooper_Rick is offline
    Addict
    Paratrooper_Rick's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: In the trenches taking aim Posts: 634
    03-10-2009, 02:58 PM #4

    Worldspace?

    You know... funny you should bring this up....

    Back when I started diving headfirst into SIRI - I considered making a play on worldspace - even though they basically went BK - given their existing infrastructure and SP (was something like .01). It would be interesting... but the thing we'd need to consider would be if the technology crossover could take place. That's a question for the technical folks in here... I'm not sure how well our satrad feeds would work on worldspace satellites/etc...

    I'm glad you brought this up...

  5. tucknroll is offline
    Enthusiast
    tucknroll's Avatar
    Joined: Mar 2009 Location: 47n/7e/35785km Posts: 139
    03-10-2009, 03:04 PM #5
    Quote Originally Posted by asm610 View Post
    Is it possible that Liberty would be exploring making a play for Worldspace's assets and entering into an agreement with Sirius for content?


    "Based outside Washington, D.C., WORLDSPACE® (NASDAQ: WRSP) is the world’s only global media and entertainment company positioned to offer a satellite radio experience to consumers in more than 130 countries with five billion people, driving 300 million cars. WORLDSPACE delivers the latest tunes, trends and information from around the world, and around the corner.

    The company’s goal is to deliver an unprecedented variety of high-quality audio entertainment and information to global markets in the Middle East, India, China, Africa and Western Europe. "

    This is PURE speculation on my part......I have no information that this is going on or the regulatory or government hurdles it would have to clear to even be a feasible situation. But I know that MLB, NFL, NBA and NASCAR would love a worldwide listening audience on a pay service that gives them more royalties...and i know that Worldspace is getting ready to sell its assets.
    i followed worldspace months ago before the bk, if malone thought it was profitable (or not),why didn't he invest as he did with siri or take now and bring it into the fold with siri, alot of regs and rules that i'm not up to date with, thought of that when this deal with siri came down.....

  6. asm610 is offline
    Senior Member
    asm610's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: NC Posts: 264
    03-10-2009, 03:10 PM #6
    Quote Originally Posted by tucknroll View Post
    i followed worldspace months ago before the bk, if malone thought it was profitable (or not),why didn't he invest as he did with siri or take now and bring it into the fold with siri, alot of regs and rules that i'm not up to date with, thought of that when this deal with siri came down.....
    He'd still need content....that's where Sirus would comes into play....who knows...I 'm just doing some speculating......but i think XM was already providing some programming to them.

  7. john is offline
    Guru
    john's Avatar
    Joined: May 2008 Posts: 2,836
    03-10-2009, 03:18 PM #7
    asm610, I was LOL when I saw this. I know you think thats terrible but look at it this way. First of all dont you think they have enough on thier plate with what is going on now. Second who would want the satellites in orbit now because from what I saw they only have about 2 years left on their orbital life spans. Third do you know how long it took for them to get the EU to approve of World Space to go into Europe. Who here thinks they are just going to let some new enity walk in on that now.


    If this happened 3 or 4 years latter then maybe but I think the better avenue is to do more on the internet side and I am not a big believer in the internet as a platform for satellite radio. With the royalties and other cost to it. I wont even get into the fact their really is no way to get internet in your car on a noninterupted basis.


    P.S. world Space has already showed they were a failing business model. I mean really people think SIRIXM has problems. Well at least SIRIXM has 63 times the subscribers at more then double the ARPU.
    Last edited by john; 03-10-2009 at 03:23 PM.

  8. asm610 is offline
    Senior Member
    asm610's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: NC Posts: 264
    03-10-2009, 03:47 PM #8
    Quote Originally Posted by john View Post
    asm610, I was LOL when I saw this. I know you think thats terrible but look at it this way. First of all dont you think they have enough on thier plate with what is going on now. Second who would want the satellites in orbit now because from what I saw they only have about 2 years left on their orbital life spans. Third do you know how long it took for them to get the EU to approve of World Space to go into Europe. Who here thinks they are just going to let some new enity walk in on that now.


    If this happened 3 or 4 years latter then maybe but I think the better avenue is to do more on the internet side and I am not a big believer in the internet as a platform for satellite radio. With the royalties and other cost to it. I wont even get into the fact their really is no way to get internet in your car on a noninterupted basis.


    P.S. world Space has already showed they were a failing business model. I mean really people think SIRIXM has problems. Well at least SIRIXM has 63 times the subscribers at more then double the ARPU.
    John, from what I read, they were supposed to have anew Satellite ready for launch to cover South America...and had recently gotten into the European Market......those areas are not anything like ASIA and Africa. I would think there is alot of potential there. The way worldspace chose to grow itself was bound to produce the outcome it did. It appears that all assets with the exception of the Worldspace India assets, are now up for sale....so I was just doing what I said I was doing...specultating. Liberty has ALOT of capital...even after loaning SIRIUS all that money. I just feel there is something bigger going on here that we have no clue about.

  9. john is offline
    Guru
    john's Avatar
    Joined: May 2008 Posts: 2,836
    03-10-2009, 04:05 PM #9
    asm610, First of all thats right launch another satellite (which will cost another 250 to 300 million) that will cover another area were poverty runs rampant. Just so you know, the reason SIRI did not want to spend the small amount of money (when compared to satellites) to put repeaters in Puerto Rico, was because they knew it was barely going to be worth the trouble. Also as said before they are not going to be able to just walk into Europe. That deal took years to get approved. On top of that I heard there was already a satellite company interested in the assests of World Space. So I dont think SIRIXM is in any shape to be buying anything and Liberty knows a lossing business model when they see one.

  10. asm610 is offline
    Senior Member
    asm610's Avatar
    Joined: Feb 2009 Location: NC Posts: 264
    03-10-2009, 05:07 PM #10
    Quote Originally Posted by john View Post
    asm610, First of all thats right launch another satellite (which will cost another 250 to 300 million) that will cover another area were poverty runs rampant. Just so you know, the reason SIRI did not want to spend the small amount of money (when compared to satellites) to put repeaters in Puerto Rico, was because they knew it was barely going to be worth the trouble. Also as said before they are not going to be able to just walk into Europe. That deal took years to get approved. On top of that I heard there was already a satellite company interested in the assests of World Space. So I dont think SIRIXM is in any shape to be buying anything and Liberty knows a lossing business model when they see one.
    I never mentioned SIRIUS buying anything...I mentioned them making money off a deal with Liberty for their exclusive content


    Yes they do(Liberty)...which is why worldspace went BK.....no exclusive content, and offering SATRAD to countries where a dirt shack or grass hut qualifies as "home". That is not the case in MOST of Latin and South America.....even the proverbial shack has electricity now, and definitely not the case in Europe. Bottom line is they need to grow income somehow...what better way than a content royalty agreement....no extra costs....just leverage existing exclusivity into more incoming revenue.
    Last edited by asm610; 03-10-2009 at 05:11 PM.

Page 1 of 3 123