Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite TODAY 01-27-11] Sirius XM Radio filed a request with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to not extend its subscription price cap on the company’s satellite radio service beyond July 2011, which was negotiated as part of the July 2008 merger that formed the company, Sirius XM announced Jan. 26.     In the filing,...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-26-11] Sky Deutschland has raised approximately 165 million euros ($225.08 million) in financing as part of an effort to kick-start 2011 as a turnaround year, the satellite broadcaster announced Jan 26.     The bond, issued by News Adelaide Holdings, can be converted into 53 million registered shares stemming from contingent capital. With...

[Satellite TODAY 01-26-11] Arqiva renewed its contract to provide Filipino multimedia company ABS-CBN’s U.S. operations with distribution services for a period of five years, Arqiva announced Jan. 25.      Arqiva will continue delivering ABS-CBN’s eight-channel bouquet to DTH platforms in Europe as well as the broadcaster’s North American programming to U.S. DTH operator DirecTV.     ...

[Satellite TODAY 01-26-11] Thomson Video Networks (TVN) will supply headend technology to broadcast network operator Teracom for Sweden’s roll out of DVB-T2, scheduled to take place at the end of 2012, TVN announced Jan. 25.     TVN will provide its ViBE EM3000 and ViBE EM2000 encoders, NetProcessor 9030 multiplexers, and TVN’s XMS management system. The...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-20-11] U.K. set-top box hardware manufacturer Pace signed a deal to provide Canal Digital Sweden with Pace’s MDC1000 head-end platform in an effort to expand the company’s presence in the Nordic market, Pace Networks General Manger Andrew Ward told Satellite TODAY Insider.     The Pace headends will receive content from Telenor´s Thor...

[Satellite TODAY 01-19-11] Content management and global distribution services provider RRsat has signed an agreement with BabyTV to distribute the Fox International channel throughout North America on Intelsat’s Galaxy-23 satellite located at 121 degrees West, RRsat announced Jan. 18.       RRsat will provide access to the channel to thousands of cable headends representing up to...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-19-11] SES Astra has entered the Bulgarian pay-TV market through a deal with DTH operator Satellite BG, SES Astra announced Jan. 17.     Satellite BG will use three transponders at SES Astra’s 23.5 degrees East orbital position for broadcasting Satellite BG’s channel portfolio to TV homes across Bulgaria starting in February. The...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-17-11] The value of the worldwide pay-TV market increased by 7.1 percent to $381.5 billion in 2010, signaling a return to positive revenue growth after the sector decreased in value in 2009, according to Idate’s World TV Markets report, released Jan. 14.     Despite difficult economic conditions, the French analyst firm said...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-14-11] Sky Deutschland added more than 180,000 subscribers in 2010, picking up about 40,000 during the fourth quarter to reach a total of 2.65 million customers in Germany and Austria, the operator announced in its full-year results issued Jan. 13.     The company saw its biggest improvement in HD service penetration, adding...

[Satellite TODAY 01-14-11] Indian DTH operator Sun Direct has leased two additional Measat-3 Ku-band transponders from Measat Satellite Systems, the company announced Jan. 12.     The agreement expands Sun Direct’s capacity on the Measat fleet to four transponders. Sun Direct said the additional lease aims to provide better service to its 5.1 million, which constitutes...