Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite TODAY 05-10-10] Harmonic signed an agreement to acquire production and playout solutions provider Omneon for an enterprise value of about $274 million in cash and Harmonic stock, the companies announced May 7.     The acquisition combines Harmonic’s video delivery infrastructure with Omneon production technology resources as well as its management and distribution of digital...

[Satellite TODAY 05-10-10] Eutelsat has signed a deal with HD service provider Euro1080 to bring more content to Eutelsat’s 3-D channel from the Eurobird 9A satellite, the operator announced May 7.     Euro1080 and its TV production company, Alfacam, will provide 3-D production and recording of more than 100 hours of 3-D sports events and...

[Satellite News 05-10-10] Ericsson is confident that its 3-D TV partnership with ESPN will be a precursor to many more 3-D deals, as the two companies work to incorporate a complete standards-based video processing solution, featuring encoders and receivers, for the ESPN 3-D sports network, Ericsson CTO Giles Wilson told Satellite News.     Wilson, who...

[Satellite News 05-07-10] SkyLife is one of the first DTH operators in Asia to make the move to 3-D, teaming with Nagravision to offer 3-D services to its 2.5 million subscriber in Korea. The operator already has launched Sky 3-D, which it claims is the world’s first 24-hour 3-D channel and is investing 5 billion...

[Satellite TODAY 05-06-10] SkyLife CEO Mong-Ryong Lee told Satellite Today that he thinks issues with 3-D glasses is one of the biggest factors holding back widespread adoption of 3-D TV.      “We are convinced, that wearing glasses is a big obstacle. Active shutter 3-D TV glasses are heavy, and many viewers feel uncomfortable. Even worse,...

[Satellite TODAY 05-07-10] MultiChoice, the leading DTH operator in South Africa, has launched an on-demand service, the company announced May 5.      DStv On Demand will be available through any of MultiChoice’s personal video recorders, and MultiChoice also will have an online element, DSTV On Demand Online. At launch, the online service will only be...

[Satellite TODAY 05-07-10] DirecTV posted revenue gains of 14 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to $5.6 billion, the company announced May 6.      First quarter earnings more than doubled to $558 million in the same period. In the first three months of 2009, DirecTV earned $201 million on revenues of $4.9 billion. DirecTV...

[Satellite TODAY 05-07-10] Telesat Holdings recorded revenues of $199 million in the 2010 first quarter, the company announced May 6.      Revenues were down $5 million compared to the same period in 2009, thought when adjusted for foreign exchange rates, revenues grew 5 percent, Telesat said. Adjusted EBITDA for the first three months of 2010...

[Satellite TODAY 05-07-10] SES World Skies closed the acquisition of the ProtoStar 2 satelite, which the company won in a December public option, SES announced May 5.      The satellite, launched in May 2009, has been renamed SES-7 and will be re-deployed to 108.2 degrees East to provide incremental capacity in South Asia and the...

[Satellite TODAY 05-05-10] StarHub has installed a mobile TV head-end solution from Envivo to extend the reach of its mobile service to 3G mobile customers and Apple iPhone users, Envivo announced May 5.     The headend features Envivo’s 4Caster C4 three screens encoder and transcoder to enhance the efficiency of StarHub’s network resources and protect...