Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite Today 07-18-08] SES Americom’s AMC-21 satellite, the second of two spacecraft for Ariane 5’s next flight, has arrived in Kourou, French Guiana, Arianespace announced July 17.     AMC-21, based on an Orbital Sciences Star-2 platform and manufactured by Thales Alenia Space, will carry 24 Ku-band transponders and provide coverage of the United States and...

[Satellite Today 07-18-08] The BBC appointed Danielle Nagler to run its high-definition (HD) service as part of the BBC Vision team, the broadcaster announced July 18.     Nagler will focus on growing the channel by driving consumer take-up, working with in-house and independent producers to increase HD programming and leading preparations for BBC HD’s launch...

[Satellite Today 07-17-08] The Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG), has filed a position paper with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opposing a request to allow terrestrial services in Ku-band.     The Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) has asked the FCC to allow terrestrial fixed services to operate in the 14.0-14.5 gigahertz band. SUIRG claims...

[Satellite Today 07-17-08] Pace received a contract to develop a new high-definition (HD) personal video recorder (PVR) for Sky Italia, one of Europe’s biggest satellite pay-TV providers, Pace announced July 16.     Pace will supply its HD PVR model TDS850NS, which comes with dual DVB-S2 (digital video broadcasting-satellite-second generation) tuners, H.264 compression and a 250-gigabyte...

[Satellite News 07-17-08]  A lack of diverse content, desire for a commercial-driven direct-to-home (DTH) market and an ingrained political fear of change will result in slow growth and underperforming Chinese satellite markets, according to the latest NSR report, "China Satellite Markets: Assessment of Commercial Satellite Transponder Demand in China, Hong Kong and Macau."     The...

[Satellite Today 07-16-08] ASC Signal Corp. has released a pair of trifold transportable antennas, the company announced.     The 4.6-m model is Ka-band compliant, is designed for C- and Ku-bands, and can be used around the globe in transportable applications serving high-density data, voice, and communications networks.     The 3.9-m model is compatible with Ka-band...

[Satellite Today 07-16-08]  SES Astra signed a capacity deal intended to boost a number of independent cable operators in Germany, the company said July 16.     The long-term agreement with KabelDienstLeistungsgesellschaft (KDL), a company representing independent German cable operators, provide two transponders at SES Astra’s new orbital position at 31.5° East to transmit digital free-to-air...

[Satellite Today 07-15-08] Integral Systems Europe (ISE) has installed a fully integrated carrier signal monitoring and transponder planning system for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting AS, ISE announced July 14.     The turnkey system, installed at Telenor facilities in Nittedal, Norway, will provide services for Telenor’s Thor family of satellites. The system includes a carrier monitoring and...

[Satellite Today 07-15-08] NDS won a middleware and conditional access contract with Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting Co. Ltd., (SkyLife), Korea’s only satellite pay-TV operator, NDS announced July 14.     NDS will expand its relationship with SkyLife by providing VideoGuard conditional access technology and MediaHighway middleware for SkyLife’s new high-definition TV (HDTV) service. SkyLife HD will...

[Satellite News – 07-14-08] Premiere had a difficult beginning to 2008, as the German pay-TV operator disclosed in February that hackers had compromised its platform.     The breach of the security system, provided by the Kudelski Group, allowed hackers to watch the pay-TV programming illegally and forced Premiere to introduce a new generation of smart...