- GlobeCast’s Chairman and CEO Christian Pinon has announced that the company is making a number of strategic management changes as it continues to build on its international growth. Following her successful three-year transformation of GlobeCast America, CEO Mary Frost has moved on to pursue personal projects. Ms. Frost will remain on the board of GlobeCast America until January 2009 and will serve as a key advisor. To ensure a smooth transition, Christian Pinon will be acting as interim CEO for the American unit. Serving first as GlobeCast America’s senior VP of sales and later as its CEO, Mary Frost was the driving force behind the business unit’s recent transformation and streamlining. Her most recent accomplishments include the upgrade of HD infrastructure on a nationwide basis and the opening of a shared facility for playout, origination and uplink, co-located with HBO Latin America in Sunrise, Florida. The new CEO of GlobeCast America will be announced later in the year. On a separate note, VP of Operations Philippe Fort has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) of GlobeCast France. Mr. Fort will be responsible for overseeing sales and operations.
- The Board of Directors of Harris Corporation has increased the quarterly cash dividend to 20 cents per share, compared to the previous quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share. This dividend is payable September 17, 2008, to shareholders of record September 4, 2008. The annual dividend rate will increase from 60 cents per share to 80 cents per share, consistent with the company's long-term target of sustained dividend payouts in the range of 20 percent of net income.
- RigNet, Inc. provides remote communications and collaborative applications to the global oil and gas industry and the Company has just been named to Inc. magazine’s annual list of fastest-growing private companies in America. RigNet received a 2008 ranking of 317 on the 5,000 list overall and a ranking of 12 among the top 100 energy companies. The 2008 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2004 through 2007. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based and privately held, independent — not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies — as of December 31, 2007, and have at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004 and $2 million in 2007.
- WildBlue Communications has introduced an equipment lease program for new customers. Under the new WildBlue Lease Program, customers will no longer be required to purchase the WildBlue equipment and, in addition, will receive free standard installation of the service. This significantly reduces total upfront fees by more than 50-percent to $149.95. Customers will now pay a low monthly lease fee of $5.95, similar to most cable and satellite television pricing models. The main benefits for customers include the lowest upfront price ever offered for WildBlue and worry-free equipment replacement. As an added savings, customers will have the option to prepay their first 24 months of lease fees for just $99.95.
Satnews Daily
August 26th, 2008
ORBITZ — Integral Systems — Juniper Networks — SES ASTRA —