Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite News 12-11-08] With Turksat 3A successfully launched in June 2008, Turksat Director General Őzkan Dalbay is already thinking about the company’s next satellite.     In an exclusive interview with Satellite News, Dalbay said that since there is a growing market in the regional TV broadcasting sector, the major challenge for the Turkish operator is...

[Satellite Today 12-11-08] Őzkan Dalbay, director general of Turksat, told Satellite Today that there will be strong growth for the operator in the regional broadcast market.     Turkey has a population of over 70 million people and represents a potentially lucrative broadcast market.     “First of all we can say that we are very hopeful...

[Satellite Today 12-10-08] Nigerian Communication Satellite and Chinese officials have held a series of meetings to discuss how to remedy the losses of customers whose business depended on the NigComSat-1 satellite, lost in November, according to The Guardian.     The cost of the satellite, built by China Great Wall Industry Corp., is estimated at $256...

[Satellite Today 12-10-08] International Launch Services (ILS) launched the Ceil-2 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Dec. 10, ILS announced.     The final ILS mission of the year will place the communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit at 129 degrees West. The anchor customer, Dish Network, will use the satellite deliver communications services throughout Canada...

[Satellite Today 12-10-08] GlobeCast signed a three-year deal with Rai Way, owners of Italian public broadcaster Rai, to provide fiber connectivity, teleport facilities and satellite capacity to deliver Rai signals to digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmitters throughout Italy in preparation for the country’s switch from analog to digital TV, GlobeCast announced Dec. 10.     GlobeCast...

[Satellite Today 12-10-08] Thaicom signed a long-term capacity deal for a remote education project in Thailand, the company announced Dec. 9.     The 10-year contract with the Distance Learning Education via Satellite Foundation of Thailand (DLF) renews an agreement for 75 percent of a Ku-band transponder on the Thaicom 5 satellite to broadcast DLTV channels....

[Satellite Today 12-09-08] Brazilian broadcasting company RMT has chosen Scopus Video Networks’ digital networking solutions to upgrade video distribution networks for two Brazilian regional RMT television stations, TV Centro America and TV Morena, Scopus announced Dec. 9.     RMT chose a combination of equipment from Scopus, including UE-9000 encoders, the IVG 7304 Intelligent Video Gateway,...

[Satellite Today 12-09-08] International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) won a contract with the Canadian Department of National Defense to continue broadcasting Canadian Forces Radio and Television (CFRT) to Canadian soldiers serving overseas, IDC announced Dec. 9.     The CFRT network delivers entertainment programming, sports and news over two television channels in both French and English as...

Satellite video equipment manufacturers’ current and next-generation products are ready-play in an IP-networked world, and IP is becoming mainstream in real-time satellite video according to hardware players. So what strategies are equipment manufacturers taking in the IP satellite market?      A number of markets are opening up for these new solutions. For example, the use...

[Satellite News 12-08-08] Arqiva’s occasional-use satellite and Web distribution services helped The Armenia Fund’s Thanksgiving telethon raise a record-breaking $35 million in 2008 to help rebuild Armenia.     Produced on two stages from the PBS Los Angeles KCTC studio, the 12-hour telethon features interviews with celebrities, Armenia Fund supporters and political leaders from Armenia and...