Focus: Broadcasting

Historically speaking, it may have been more than 2,100 years in coming, but XM Satellite Radio has nevertheless managed another programming first over its terrestrial cousins with the company’s announcement to broadcast "Radio Hanukkah" during the Jewish Festival of Light. Starting the day before, and concurrent to the observed dates of Hanukkah (this year being...

The launch of BT’s Internet protocol (IP) TV service, BT Vision, brings another strong competitor for satellite operator BSkyB in the U.K. pay-TV market. BT has set a subscriber goal of 2 million to 3 million customers within three years, an aggressive target, Sarah Simon, a media equity analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a...

SIRI Sirius Satellite Radio announced Dec. 4 that it was updating its year-end 2006 subscriber guidance in light of lagging holiday retail sales. "While strong, this year’s retail sales results since the Thanksgiving weekend have not been at the pace we had anticipated," Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said in a statement. "We are updating our...

Jetix Europe, one of the key kids and youth entertainment providers to direct-to-home (DTH) platforms around the globe, has had a busy 2006 but is not expecting strong growth in terms of new markets in 2007, according to Paul Taylor, the company’s CEO. "We are likely to see a slowing of the rate of the...

A Chicago man accused of developing and distributing software designed to steal DirecTV programming has agreed to a $1 million settlement with DirecTV Inc. and NDS Americas Inc., DirecTV announced Dec. 8. DirecTV and NDS, the creator of security features used to protect DirecTV’s broadcasts from unauthorized interception, filed a federal lawsuit against Robert Lazarra...

Euro1080, a leading European high-definition (HD) channel and content provider, will broadcast all of its channels using MPEG-4 beginning in 2007, the company announced. In order to facilitate the transition, Euro1080 intends to offer a special MPEG-4 compatible set top box promotion to existing customers. Euro1080’s bouquet of HD channels include: HD1, HD2, HD5 and...

The final Arianespace launch of 2006 is scheduled for Dec. 8, as an Ariane 5 is slated to place SES Americom‘s AMC-18 satellite and WildBlue Communications‘ WildBlue-1 satellite into orbit. The launch window opens at 7:08 p.m. local time in Kourou, French Guiana, and runs through 7:51 p.m.

Space Communications Ltd. has sold more than 50 percent of the total capacity on its Amos-3 satellite, which is slated for launch in the third quarter of 2007, the company announced. Some existing and new customers on Amos-1 and Amos-2, including government users and direct-to-home platforms Yes of Israel and Romania’s Boom, will transition some...

Sirius Satellite Radio announced Dec. 4 that it was updating its year-end 2006 subscriber guidance in light of lagging holiday retail sales. "While strong, this year’s retail sales results since the Thanksgiving weekend have not been at the pace we had anticipated," Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said in a statement. "We are updating our year-end...

XM Satellite Radio and General Motors (GM) announced Dec. 5 that the automaker will build more than 1.8 million 2007 vehicles with factory-installed XM Radio. GM was the first automaker to offer satellite radio when it introduced XM as a factory-installed feature on its Cadillac Seville and Deville models in 2001.