Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite Today 06-26-09] French satellite pay-TV operator Canalsat launched its on-demand television service, Canalsat a la Demande, the company announced June 25.     The service was launched on the PC market in January, and Canalsat now isextending that service for broadcast TV.     Canalsat currently has more than 5 million subscribers in France, making it...

[Satellite Today 06-26-09] Sirius XM Radio has increased the offering size of senior notes belonging to subsidiary XM Satellite Radio, due 2013, to about $525 million from the original offer of $350 million, Sirius XM announced June 25.     The notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 11.25 percent, with the price to...

[Satellite Today 06-25-09] The Discovery Channel was found to be the most important element of enjoyment for the total adult audience of satellite service subscribers, according to results of the 2009 Beta Research Satellite Dish Subscriber Study, released June 24.      The research study polled respondents having viewed the network in the past 12 months....

[Satellite Today 06-24-09] EchoStar Satellite Services signed an agreement with Ringgold Telephone Company (RTC), a U.S. provider of converged communications to access lines in northern Georgia, to deliver EchoStar’s ViP-TV video transport service to RTC’s secured network, EchoStar announced June 23.     With EchoStar’s support, RTC will receive transport of up to 42 high-definition TV...

[Satellite Today 06-24-09] Setanta Sport Holdings has not been able to acquire the funding it needs to survive and will end its broadcasting service in the United Kingdom, the company announced June 23.     Setanta said it paid huge amounts of capital for leading sports rights but was not able to generate a sufficient return...

[Satellite Today 06-23-09] SingTel signed a transponder purchase agreement with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) for multiple C-band transponders on the ABS-2 satellite at a cost of about $55 million over two years, SingTel announced June 22.     SingTel will market these transponders to corporate customers under the brand ST-3/ABS-2.     “With the new ST-3/ABS-2 transponders,...

[Satellite Today 06-23-09] Sirius XM Radio has offered $350 million in XM Satellite Radio senior secured notes, due 2013, to qualified institutional buyers, Sirius XM announced June 22.     Sirius XM said its subsidiary will use the net proceeds from the offering to repay all amounts outstanding under its amended and restated credit agreement, with...

[Satellite Today 06-22-09] BBC has enlisted the help of Eutelsat‘s W2M satellite to assist the broadcast company in covering the recent presidential election dispute in Iran, the BBC announced June 19.     The BBC also said it will be receiving the help of Nilesat satellites in the near future.     According to BBC, the new...

[Satellite Today 06-19-09] Sirius XM Radio is releasing a free application on Apple‘s App Store that will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to access Sirius XM content, the company announced June 18.  The application will give Sirius and XM Internet subscribers access to 120 channels of sports, talk, entertainment, news, comedy and commercial-free music directly...

[Satellite Today 06-18-09] Measat Satellite Systems renewed an agreement with Celestial Movies Channel Ltd. to distribute Celestial Movies and Celestial Classic Movies on Measat-3, Measat announced June 17.     “We are delighted with the on-going support from MEASAT,” Terry Mak, executive vice president, Distribution & TV Networks of Celestial Pictures, said in a statement. “Channel...