Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite Today – 5-9-08] Indian direct-to-home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has more than 2 million subscribers, reaching this milestone in 20 months, the company announced May 7,     Tata Sky is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Star and offers subscribers more than 150 channels and interactive services.

[Satellite Today – 5-8-08] SES Astra signed a capacity deal with Czech pay-TV platform CS Link, SES Astra announced May 8.      CS Link, one of the largest pay-TV platforms in the Czech Republic with 400,000 customers, is taking a third transponder at SES Astra’s orbital position at 23.5° East. CS Link transmits 25 TV...

[Satellite News – 5-8-08] Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications companies, wants to expand its business and is setting its sights on India’s burgeoning satellite pay-TV market.     Bharti Airtel already serves about 62 million cellular customers in India and plans to use that base and its well-known brand to launch direct-to-home (DTH) services...

[Satellite Today – 5-7-08] Orbcomm Inc. has signed a $117 million contract with Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) to build 18 Orbcomm Generation 2 (OG2) satellites, Orbcomm announced May 7.         Each OG2 satellite will be equipped with an enhanced communications payload designed to increase subscriber capacity by up to 12 times over the current...

[Satellite Today – 5-7-08] MultiChoice Hellas renewed its satellite capacity contract with Eutelsat Communications until 2010 and also signed a contract for a fifth transponder, Eutelsat announced May 6.     Hellas operates pay-TV platform Nova, which delivers television, radio and interactive services in Greece and Cyprus to more than 350,000 subscribers. The additional capacity will...

[Satellite News – 5-5-08] Israeli satellite pay-TV operator Yes may only have 550,000 subscribers, but it is determined to be one of the most innovative pay-TV operators in terms of adapting its satellite strategy, said Itzhak Elyakim, the company’s CTO.     Traditionally a direct-to-home (DTH) operator, Yes has been making huge strides in the broadband...

[Satellite News – 5-2-08] Spanish satellite operator Hispasat is targeting a strong performance in its core markets in Europe and Latin America throughout the next year, with the 2009 launch its Amazonas 2 satellite expected to help the operator make great strides further in Latin America.     Petra Mateos, president of Hispasat, spoke with Satellite...

[Satellite News – 5-1-08] Media Partners Asia believes the direct-to-home (DTH) market in Asia will grow to around 44 million customers throughout the region by 2012.     Satellite pay-TV services are on the rise in the region. “DTH subscriber growth accelerated to 27 percent in 2007 versus 16 percent in 2006, with total customers reaching...

[Satellite Today – 5-1-08] SES Astra has launched new high-definition (HD) bouquet of channels has launched in Holland and Belgium, the operator announced April 30.         Dutch satellite TV provider CanalDigitaal and Belgian sister company TV Vlaanderen are broadcasting their new HDTV package via Astra satellites at 23.5° East. The two transponders for the...

[Satellite Today – 5-1-08] BSkyB has nearly  9 million subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the company announced April 30.     High-definition (HD) growth remains robust, with 465,000 subscribers accessing HD services at the end of March. BSkyB also has 1.4 million broadband customers and nearly 3.4 million people accessing its personal video recorder...