Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite Today – 5-1-08] ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd. has signed an agreement with Discovery Communications LLC for content for the alpha trials of ICO mim, ICO announced April 29.     ICO mim (mobile interactive media) is intended to deliver a wide range of entertainment and communication services, including television, interactive navigation and roadside assistance....

[Satellite Today – 4-29-08] SES Astra has initiated a new orbital position at 31.5° East as it looks to make more of an impact in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the company announced April 29.     The new position will allow SES Astra to operate satellite services at up to 40 new broadcasting frequencies....

[Satellite Today – 4-29-08] Wegener Corp. received a $1.2 million order for a digital signage project for the financial services industry, Wegener announced April 28.     The order marks the launch of Wegener’s new iPump 562 enterprise media server, which supports bandwidth-saving features such as MPEG-4/h.264 video decompression, file-based workflows and DVB-S2 (digital video broadcasting-satellite-second...

[Satellite Today – 4-29-08] Eutelsat Communications will help launch a new high-definition (HD) platform in Hungary, the operator April 29.     Hello HD will launch services May 1 in Hungary via a pair of transponders on Eutelsat’s Eurobird 9 satellite. Hello HD’s new television platform will feature HDTV services such as  Eurosport HD, National Geographic...

[Satellite Today – 4-29-08] The ICO G1 satellite deployed its large antenna reflector April 26, Space Systems/Loral and ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd. announced.     ICO G1 incorporates a 12-meter antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corp. The reflector uses a gold-plated mesh reflective surface that allows a very large antenna reflector to stow...

[Satellite Today – 4-29-08] Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio have postponed their 2008 annual meetings of stockholders, the companies announced April 29.     The companies will announce a new date for the meeting when it has further information relating to the timing of the pending merger between the two companies.      The U.S....

[Satellite News – 4-25-08] Arqiva is expanding into the international high-definition (HD) market with launches of a new international platform for occasional use broadcasting as well as a new MPEG-4 HD platform for Asia.     Simon Thrush, senior vice president for Arqiva in the United States, said the company may also launch other products and...

[Satellite Today – 4-23-08] The Modern Times Group (MTG) continues to see a fall in the number of direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers in the Nordic region, the company announced April 22.     MTG subsidiary Viasat Broadcasting reported a total of 786,000 DTH subscribers at the end of March, a decline of nearly 2 percent from 802,000...

[Satellite News – 4-23-08] Bell Canada, which owns and runs Canada’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) operator, Bell ExpressVu, is pushing satellite technology as a solution to help the country become fully digital.     If the operator is successful, even people in remote areas of the country would have access to the latest high-definition (HD) channels and...

[Satellite Today – 4-23-08] Ondas Media has signed an agreement with the Radio Communications Agency in the Netherlands that gives the European satellite radio company exclusive rights to construct, launch and locate up to two geostationary satellites, Ondas announced April 23.     Ondas plans to provide satellite radio services throughout Europe, a market it estimates...