Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite TODAY 05-24-11]  SES Astra has signed a new capacity deal for a 3-D TV channel, the company announced May 23.      The agreement is with Penthouse Digital Media Productions for a second Penthouse 3-D channel on Astra 23.5 degrees East for the encrypted distribution to TV platform providers across Europe. Including the two Penthouse...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-24-11] Broadcasters see 3-D TV as a low priority. This is one of the key findings of new research released by U.K. research company, Ovum. In its research analyzing the state of the 3-D market, Ovum says there is a “clear lack of enthusiasm for 3-D TV in the broadcast industry.” Senior...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-23-11] SES Astra signed a capacity agreement with Telekom Srbija for the DTH transmission of the public TV channels RTS Sat and Radio Beograd in Serbia, the operator announced May 19.             Martin Kubacki, Vice President & Chief Regional Officer, Astra CEE told Satellite Today Insider it was a highly significant deal...

[Satellite TODAY 05-20-11]  DirecTV has started field trial testing for its DirecTV Home Media Center, the company announced May 18. It will ultimately provide customers with a ‘receiver-less’ solution for many TVs in their homes.             The launch of field trial testing for DirecTV ‘s model HR34 RVU-enabled server, the heart of the DirecTV Home...

[Satellite TODAY 05-19-11] Asia Broadcast Satellite has secured $215 million in new funding, the company announced May 18. It has closed a $215 million five-year senior bank loan from a financial consortium comprising Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank.      The financing will be used to fully fund the capital expenditure...

[Satellite TODAY 05-17-11]  Cyfrowy Polsat has now close to 3.5 million DTH subscribers in Poland. This was one of the highlights of its first quarter results issued May 17.      Overall, Polsat added around 230,000 new DTH subscribers in the past year. The operator, which offers a variety of services, also announced that it now...

[Satellite TODAY 05-18-11]  RRSat Global Communications has appointed Shlomo Shamir as its new chairman, the company  announced May 16.       Shamir will replace Gilad Ramot, who will remain as a member of RRsat’s board of directors. RRSat provides global content management and distribution services to television and radio broadcasting organizations.

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-18-11] Sky Deutschland, Germany’s largest satellite pay-TV operator, could reach the breakeven point by 2012. Morgan Stanley equity analyst Patrick Wellington issued a new report on the operator May 17.             “Strong Q1 subscriber numbers lead us to raise our forecasts and bring the breakeven point forward to 2012,” Wellington says in...

 [Satellite TODAY 05-17-11] Joseph Clayton is to become the new CEO and President of Dish Network, the company announced May 16.       Charlie Ergen, who formerly held the positions of President and CEO, will remain as chairman of Dish Network. Dish Network has just over 14 million pay-TV subscribers in the United States.    ...

[Satellite News 05-13-11] U.S. pay-TV satellite operators Dish Network and DirecTV are launching new video services to bring a fresh range of entertainment options to consumer markets. While both companies are adopting plans to remain competitive against each other, the new offerings also aim to challenge the Web-based streaming services that have siphoned younger customers...