Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite News – 5-19-08] Hello HD, a new high-definition (HD) platform in Hungary being broadcast by Eutelsat Communications, expects to have 50,000 subscribers by the end of the year, said CEO Andra Schmideg. The platform, which debuted in early May with channels such as Eurosport HD, National Geographic HD, Filmbox HD and HBO HD is...

[Satellite Today – 5-19-08] RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd. will distribute AXN SCI-FI, a science fiction channel from Sony Pictures Television International, into Russia, RRSat announced May 19. The agreement will leverage capabilities of the RRsat Global Network, including RRSat’s fiber optic line from the United Kingdom and encrypted satellite distribution services over the ABS-1...

[Satellite Today – 5-16-08] WorldSpace Satellite Radio reported flat revenue and a decline in subscribers in the first quarter of 2008, the company announced May 15.      WorldSpace reported revenues of about $3 million for the quarter, essentially unchanged from the first quarter of 2007. Subscription revenue was about $1.7 million in the first three...

[Satellite Today – 5-15-08] Dish Network Corp. won its lawsuit against NDS Group over conditional access card technology, Dish announced May 15.     The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled for Dish Network in the suit, filed by EchoStar in 2003, that claimed NDS Group reverse-engineered conditional access cards developed for...

[Satellite News – 5-14-08] Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract to provide Korea Telecom’s (KT) next telecommunication satellite, Thales announced May 14.     Thales will manufacture the communications payload for Koreasat 6 and have overall responsibility for design, manufacturing and test of the satellite and ground segment as well as launch and early operations...

[Satellite News – 5-14-08] Genesis Networks is introducing what it calls the “world’s first hybrid satellite-fiber service” for global high-definition (HD) broadcasting, Genesis announced May 14.     The services extends Genesis Networks’ fully meshed, global video-over-IP fiber optic network through alliances with commercial satellite teleports. The system is intended to facilitate delivery and receipt of...

[Satellite Today – 5-13-08] Intelsat Ltd. has sold transponder capacity on the Intelsat 15 satellite to Romantis GmbH, Intelsat announced May 13.     Romantis expects to use the Ku-band transponder services to set up a universal satellite multimedia platform that will support applications such as direct-to-home broadcasting, IPTV service platforms, digital video broadcasting-satellite-second generation standard-...

[Satellite Today – 5-12-08] XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. reported a nearly 17 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2008, as well as more than 300,000 net subscriber additions, XM announced May 12.     XM posted $308.5 million in revenue for the quarter ending March 31, compared to $264.1 million for the...

[Satellite Today – 5-12-08] – ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd. has filed its final milestone certification with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirming that its satellite system is operational, ICO announced May 12.     ICO has successfully completed two-way voice and data sessions using the ICO G1 satellite, ICO’s North Las Vegas gateway, and...

[Satellite News – 5-9-08] U.K. telecommunications giant BT Vision has perhaps one of the hardest tasks of any major operator in Europe in terms of penetrating the TV market.     BT is attempting to gain a foothold in a market where satellite operator BSkyB has nearly 9 million pay-TV subscribers. The terrestrial alternative, Freeview, also...