Focus: Broadcasting

While 3-D TV continues to dominate headlines and discussions due to early efforts by broadcasters such as DirecTV, Discovery and ESPN, many industry analysts remain cautious about the potential take-up of 3-D TV.     “ABI is being a bit cautious with our forecast for 3-D-ready TV sales. We believe that the market will grow, but...

On Digital Media (ODM) has deployed Harmonic’s digital video head-end solutions to power its new TopTV pay TV service in South Africa.     The head-end system includes Harmonic’s Electra 5400 MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) multi-channel encoders and the ProStream 1000 stream processing platform with DiviTrackIP statistical multiplexing     TopTV’s channels are sent over IP via Seacom’s...

German satellite pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland will launch its 3-D TV service in October, the company announced.     The 3-D service will feature sporting events, movies, documentaries, music, arts and more. The service can be received through any Sky HD capable set-top-box – including the newly introduced Sky Plus – and must be connected to...

Latens, A provider of pay-TV software security solutions, has entered a partnership with middleware manufacturer Indieon Technologies to develop a secure, cardless one-way broadcasting solution for DTH broadcasters in Asia, the companies announced Sept. 7.     Latens said will provide its conditional access system (CAS) to integrate with Indieon’s middleware, including its line of set-top-boxes,...

RRsat has entered a partnership with Europe’s Digital Media Center (DMC) to offer a complete global playout and content delivery solutions to regional broadcasters, the company announced Sept. 7.     The partnership will see DMC and RRsat combine their capabilities and networks through a dedicated fiber connection. The alliance also will combine DMC’s capabilities in...

Intelsat is expanding Russian DTH satellite provider Orion Express’ programming capacity on the Intelsat 15 satellite (IS-15), the operator announced.     Orion signed a new multi-year, multi-transponder contract with Intelsat, to enable the broadcaster to distribute news, sports, entertainment and children’s programming for its new satellite platform, Continent TV, which generated approximately 100,000-subscribers within three...

France Telecom (Orange), one of Europe’s biggest, was one of the first to launch pay-TV services via satellite as well as IPTV. Xavier Couture, executive vice president, content, discussed the operator’s strategy and how it will blend satellite and telecom technologies to bring cutting-edge content propositions to Orange’s customer base. IBC E-DAILY: What major initiatives...

[Satellite News 09-10-10] Broadcasting giant CBS has seen its use of satellite and related technologies change in recent years, and this could change again as CBS looks to use more terrestrial options for delivering content in the future rather than satellite, said Brent Stranathan, vice president, broadcast distribution.     CBS has been making technology decisions...

[Satellite TODAY 09-10-10] Miranda Technologies, a Canadian provider of infrastructure, playout and monitoring systems for the cable, satellite and IPTV broadcast industries, has acquired IT-based media management and delivery solutions provider OmniBus Systems from Palamon Capital Partners for $47.1 million in cash, Miranda announced Sept. 9.     The all-cash purchase will be financed equally between...

[Satellite TODAY 09-09-10] On Digital Media (ODM) has deployed Harmonic’s digital video head-end solutions to power its new TopTV pay TV service in South Africa.     The head-end system includes Harmonic’s Electra 5400 MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) multi-channel encoders and the ProStream 1000 stream processing platform with DiviTrackIP statistical multiplexing     TopTV’s channels are sent over...