Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite Today 11-05-08] MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has chosen GlobeCast for the launch of its first international high definition service dedicated to music and kids, MTVNHD, GlobeCast announced Nov. 4.     The 24-hour English-language MTVNHD service will initially be available in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, with plans to expand to France, Germany, the...

[Satellite Today 11-04-08] Bezeq Israel Telecom has sold its satellite communications operations to RRsat Global Communications Network, Bezeq announced Nov. 4. Bezeq said will post a capital gain of 49 million shekels ($13 million).     "The sale of the satellite communications activities is part of Bezeq’s ongoing strategy of focusing on its core business," Bezeq...

[Satellite News 11-04-08] Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been sued by Save Sirius, a group formed by 500 shareholders of the formerly independent Sirius Satellite Radio.     The group charges top Sirius executives, including CEO Mel Karmazin, of intentionally sabotaging Sirius stock to purchase it privately at a low price, a violation of the Racketeer...

[Satellite Today 11-03-08] Measat Satellite Systems will distribute the JimJam television channel via the Measat 3 satellite throughout the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Eastern Africa regions, Measat announced Oct. 29.     JimJam, which offers a variety of popular children’s programming, said cooperation with Measat is an integral part of its distribution strategy in Asia...

The amount of available bandwidth is the only part of the broadcasting sector not growing. How is the latest in compression technology keeping revenues flowing and what lies ahead for broadcasters? The

[Satellite Today 10-31-08] BSkyB has now gone through the 9 million mark for subscribers, the company announced Oct. 31     BSkyB added nearly 90,000 net new subscribers in the 2008 third quarter, which closed at the end of September. The operator also is seeing strong growth in take-up of high-definition (HD) services and now has...

[Satellite News 10-31-08] France Telecom (Orange), which launched Orange TV via satellite in France in July, has reached 70,000 subscribers for the service, the company announced Oct. 30. The service is a complement to France Telecom’s IPTV service, which surpassed the 1.5 million mark for subscribers.     Orange TV, a DTH service developed in conjunction...

[Satellite Today 10-30-08] Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and ITV Global Entertainment Ltd. have signed a multi-year contract to broadcast the Granada TV channel across Asia on the ABS-1 satellite’s C-band MCPC platform, the companies announced Oct. 29.     ABS said it will be providing equipment co-location, encoding, encryption, uplink, and satellite bandwidth services to ITV....

[Satellite Today 10-28-08] ProtoStar already has sold a “significant amount” of capacity on its ProtoStar 1 satellite and expects to be profitable within the next few years, CEO Philip Father said.     “We had pre-sold a significant amount of capacity at launch with anchor customers such as DishTV/Agrani, PlanetSky and SingTel,” Father told Satellite News....

[Satellite News 10-28-08] ProtoStar hopes to make an impact in the promising DTH markets in Asia by providing capacity aboard its ProtoStar 1 satellite.     The spacecraft, placed in orbit in July, carries 16 Ku-band and 38 C-band transponders that allows DTH operators to provide services without purchasing their own satellite.     ProtoStar CEO Philip...