Focus: Broadcasting

SES Americom unveiled a high-definition service intended to provide a bandwidth home to customers using IP-based connectivity platforms for providing voice and data communication to satellite newsgathering (SNG) trucks, the company announced April 10. The service, delivered via the AMC-5 satellite at 79° West and the AMC-6 satellite at 72° West, includes the SkySwitch IP...

Modulus Video Inc. introduced the MRE2000 family—a new class of video receiver/encoder systems intended to streamlines direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and IPTV headend operations, the company announced April 10. Based entirely on standard internet protocols for signal distribution, the MRE2000 incorporates in a single 1RU chassis direct RF signal input, demodulation, decoding and signal processing...

Mobile TV will produce a variety of satellite opportunities for S-band direct access and Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) channel distribution/backhauling in many markets, a study from NSR found. S-band services are generating positive results in Asia via TU Media in Korea with more than 1.1 million subscribers. Additional S-band plans in Asia, Europe and potentially...

Direct-to-home provider Home2US signed a contract with SES Americom to deliver content via the IP Prime service, SES announced April 9. Under the agreement, SES will begin delivering channels such as Korean News Network, YTN, the Ethiopian TV Network and Kenya Live TV via IP Prime an IPTV distribution solution for the U.S. market. Home2US,...

Telesat’s Anik F3 satellite was carried into orbit aboard a Proton rocket, Telesat and International Launch Services (ILS) announced April 10. The spacecraft, manufactured by EADS Astrium, is equipped with 32 Ku-band and 24 C-band transponders to provide broadcasting and telecommunications services throughout North America and also carries a Ka-band payload to supplement services being...

Optus, the Australian telco owned by Singapore Telecom, already has 25 percent of the capacity sold on its D3 satellite. Optus announced April 3 it will invest in a new D3 satellite to meet the growing demand for capacity in Australia and New Zealand. The satellite will have a total of 24 transponders, and satellite...

The continued flow of rhetoric between the interested parties concerning the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio has seemed itself to provide enough content for a new channel on either broadcast provider. But recent incidents and reports demonstrated a quantum leap in the debate, none of which officially counts before the...

SISLink, which recently signed a deal to supply ITV Sport with satellite facilities for its Formula 1 race coverage over the next four years, hopes the deal will be a springboard for the company to make a real crack at the U.S. market. The company, a large provider of satellite uplink services, is now ready...

Yet another audial consumer offering is being made available to American listeners as Slacker Inc. prepares to roll out its line of "Personal Radio," enabling U.S. consumers to customize and carry their own radio stations for listening wherever they happen to be. Designed to be more user-friendly than an MP3 player, more portable than a...

The proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio may make perfect business sense to the two companies, but if they hope to convince federal regulators that the combination should be allowed to take place, XM and Sirius may first have to remind them which year it is. A February hearing before the...