Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite News 06-01-10] On April 30, 2012, German broadcast government agencies ARD and ZDF will begin working with commercial broadcast giants RTL-Group and Pro7-Group to broadcast their satellite programming in digital format to comply with Germany’s analog-to-digital satellite switchover.     For the next two years, the urgent task of initiators, like Pro-7’s Eva Rössler, is...

The opening of CommunicAsia comes at what could be the beginning of a new era in the Asia-Pacific region. For many years, the satellite communications sector has viewed the region with a sense of frustration, as governments throughout the market placed national pride above economic sense, and the desire to operate their own satellites hurt...

[Satellite News 05-31-10] Eurosport will only launch a commercial 3-D TV channel in the next year if it is able to do so on multiple satellite pay-TV platforms, Eurosport General Director of Distribution and Development Jean-Thierry Augustin told Satellite News.     According to Augustin, who spoke at a Telenor event in Oslo this week, the...

[Satellite TODAY 05-27-10] Eutelsat has teamed up with Eurosport to broadcast the French Open in 3-D to retail stores throughout Europe, Eutelsat announced May 27.    The 3-D coverage, running from May 23 to June 6, is being transmitted to Hot Bird 6 at 13 degrees East for reception by retail outlets and business clients...

[Satellite TODAY 05-27-10] Eric Shanks, former executive vice president of entertainment of DirecTV, has been appointed president of Fox Sports, the Fox Sports Media Group confirmed May 26.    Shanks played a key role in DirecTV’s 3-D TV strategy and will become the third president of Fox Sports since its inception in Dec. 1993.   ...

[Satellite TODAY 05-26-10] MTV Networks Asia has joined the Asia TV Advertising Coalition (ATAC), an alliance of Asian broadcasters dedicated to generating new advertising revenue streams for subscription television across 15 Asian markets, the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) announced May 25.     MTV will join Bloomberg Television, CNBC/ Universal Networks International,...

[Satellite TODAY 05-25-10] Technicolor is partnering with TiVo to develop an advanced, TiVo-ready, high definition PVR set-top box for operators who license TiVo software, the two companies announced May 23.     Technicolor will port TiVo software to its latest DSI803 PVR hardware platform, giving operators the benefit of provisioning PVRs that are optimized for TiVo’s...

[Satellite TODAY 05-25-10] Australian DTH operator Foxtel will provide its TV services through Microsoft’s Xbox Live network, the company announced May 20.     Foxtel by Xbox Live will allow Xbox 360 owners in Australia to access Foxtel channels including Fox Sports, Discovery, Nickelodeon, Disney, MTV, and other leading channels via their Xbox 360 entertainment console....

[Satellite News 05-24-10] While the U.K. broadcasting market has seen radical changes in the way people consume video, Ofcom, the British broadcasting regulatory board, working with the United Kingdom’s new conservative coalition government, will most likely implement minor changes to regulatory policy, according to panelists at the Broadcast & Beyond 2010 event in London.    ...

[Satellite TODAY 05-24-10] World shipments of hybrid set-top boxes increased 27 percent in 2009 over 2008 due to an increase in pay-TV hybrid satellite deployments, according to an IMS Research report, released May 20.      Statistics from IMS’ “Online Digital Set-top Box & iDTV Database Report,” show hybrid set-top box shipments set to grow steadily...