Focus: Broadcasting

Belief that demand for capacity serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) soon will skyrocket has been building for more than a year, spurred by a combination of increasing demand for satellite-based services and government deregulation that is encouraging more providers to enter the market. This optimism remains high, even though the global economy...

Scripps Networks is carving a niche for itself in terms of lifestyle media channels. The company launched HGTV in 1994, and among its five other networks, probably is best known is the Food Network channel, which is available in more than 99 million households in the United States. Now Scripps Networks, which touts itself as...

[Satellite TODAY 03-01-10] Sirius XM Radio expects to add 500,000 new subscribers in 2010 after posting fourth-quarter 2009 net income of $14.2 million, compared a net loss of $245.8 million in the same quarter in 2008, the operator announced in its latest financial reports, released Feb. 26.     Sirius XM Radio attributed the recovery to...

[Satellite TODAY 03-01-10] Sky Deutschland saw revenues and profits fall to 902.1 million euros ($1.22 billion) in 2009 from 941.1 million euros ($1.47 billion) in 2008, the operator announced in its 2009 year-end financial reports, released Feb. 26. Sky Deutschland registered a net loss of 676.5 million euros ($913.23 million) in 2009 compared to a...

[Satellite News 03-01-10] Indian DTH operator DishTV is set to launch personal video recorder (PVR) services to its 6.5 million subscribers, however, HD services may be at least a year away, DishTV COO Salil Kapoor told Satellite News.     In the fiercely competitive Indian DTH market, DishTV expects to reach 7 million subscribers by the...

[Satellite TODAY 02-25-10] News Corp has acquired a 9 percent stake in the Rotana Group, a Middle East media group, the company announced Feb. 23. News Corp. will acquire newly-issued shares in Rotana for $70 million. The company has an option to increase its stake to 18.18 per cent in the 18 months following completion....

[Satellite TODAY 02-25-10] Newtec, Arabsat and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) are expanding the Multimedia Exchange Network over Satellite (MENOS), Newtec announced Feb. 24.     Additional bandwidth will be provided on the new Arabsat 5A satellite, due to launch shortly, and will provide additional capacity to existing customers and facilitate service expansion.     ASBU,...

[Satellite TODAY 02-24-10] NDS has signed a contract with On Digital Media to provide a comprehensive set of services for its TopTV DTH platform in South Africa, the company announced Feb. 22.     On Digital Media will secure NDS’ MPEG4 DVB-S2-based service using NDS’ VideoGuard Conditional Access (CA) technology. NDS MediaHighway set-top box software and...

[Satellite TODAY 02-23-10] UPC Broadband consolidated its European DTH businesses to create a new company, UPC DTH, the company announced Feb. 22.     The consolidation will combine UPC Direct’s activities in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as UPC’s FocusSat activities in Romania with a minimum of impact for customers.     UPC DTH...

[Satellite TODAY 02-23-10] ATIS has entered into a partnership with the Video Services Forum (VSF) to define additional IP video performance metrics, the organizations announced Feb. 22.     The partnership aims to establish precise measurements for next-generation IP video services in order to quantify and benchmark user experiences and enable ongoing trials to improve service...