Focus: Broadcasting

[Satellite News – 2-19-08] Satellite pay-TV has peaked in terms of subscribers in the Nordic region, according to Modern Times Group (MTG) CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht. MTG owns Viasat Broadcasting, which operates a Viasat-branded direct-to-home (DTH) platform.     Both major DTH platforms in the region, Viasat and Canal Digital, saw their satellite pay-TV subscriber numbers decline...

[Satellite Today – 2-19-08] GlobeCast signed an exclusive deal with IEC in Sports to provide contribution and distribution services until December 2009, GlobeCast announced Feb. 19.     GlobeCast, who has been an IEC partner since 2000, will distribute more than 3,000 hours of live programming from more than 250 sporting events worldwide each year via...

[Satellite News – 2-19-08] In 2007, there were some interesting financial dynamics within the satellite industry. BC Partners struck a deal to acquire Intelsat. Abertis, a Spanish infrastructure company, was prepared to invest heavily to acquire strong stakes in European satellite operators Eutelsat and Hispasat. In the field of MSS, many players believe this is...

[Satellite Today – 2-18-08] RRSat Global Communications Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire a teleport located in Pennsylvania, RRSat’s first U.S. acquisition, the company announced Feb. 14.     As part of the $4.3 million transaction, RRSat will acquire all the property, assets and licenses of the Hawley teleport, located in Pike County, from Skynet...

[Satellite Today – 2-15-08] Viasat Broadcasting has seen its satellite pay-TV subscriber base fall in the Nordic region. This was one of the highlights of its full year and fourth quarter results issued Feb. 14. The operator, a subsidiary owned by the Modern Times Group (MTG), at the end of December had 714,000 premium DTH...

[Satellite Today – 2-15-08] Arqiva has stepped up its plans in the High Definition (HD) arena. Its satellite media solutions division has installed a new HD ready television playout suite, the company announced Feb. 14. Building of the new facility, which will play out combinations of HD and SD channels, has already commenced and will...

[Satellite Today – 2-14-08] Premiere closed 2007 with more than 3.6 million pay-TV subscribers, adding more than 240,000 subscribers, the company announced Feb. 14.     Revenues fell from 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in 2006 to 984.5 million euros ($1.4 billion) in 2007.     Premiere cuts its operating costs 11 percent to 901.2 million ($1.3...

[Satellite News – 2-14-08] With the news that the German pay-TV operator Premiere‘s encryption system has been compromised, the issue of piracy in the pay-TV arena has come back into the spotlight.     Premiere said Feb. 6 that missed its forecasts due to the breached of the conditional access system supplied by the Kudelski Group....

[Satellite Today – 2-13-08] Microspace Communications Corp. (Microspace), has been selected by Instant Access Media to deliver i-am TV, an out-of-home digital entertainment network, to the largest neighborhood and sports bars across the United States, Microspace announced Feb. 12.     The i-am TV network features out-of-home entertainment programming and marketing messages that cater specifically to...

[Satellite Today – 2-13-08] Canal Digital, the Nordic DTH platform owned by Telenor, ended 2007 with 932,000 subscribers. This was one of the highlights of Telenor’s full-year and fourth quarter results issued Feb. 13. This represents a disappointing performance as the platform actually lost subscribers between September and the end of December. At the end...