Focus: Broadcasting

Manoto TV, a popular Persian-language channel, has completed its switch in SD and HD versions to the Eutelsat 7B satellite operated by Eutelsat Communications. The channel is now available exclusively from Eutelsat’s Hot Bird satellites and Eutelsat 7B that together form a single neighborhood for Persian-speaking viewers in Europe, the Middle East and Iran. More...

Kwesé TV, a new satellite network in Africa has officially launched. The Kwesé Network’s pay-TV satellite service started broadcasting on Monday, beaming its full suite of programming to households in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia, which make up the initial phase of the Kwesé TV rollout across Africa; other countries will be announced in due course....

BSkyB (Sky), a U.K. pay-TV operator as well as a major acquirer of satellite capacity, made a major announcement last week to bring a “satellite-free” OTT service to U.K. customers in the 2018 timeframe. In this intriguing announcement, the operator announced it will plan to bring this service to households that cannot access pay-TV services...

Giglio Group has signed an agreement with RTL 102.5 Network to launch two new channels in High Definition (HD) via satellite through Eutelsat’s Hot Bird satellites at 13 degrees east: RTL 102.5 TV HD and RADIO FRECCIA HD. M-Three SatCom, the broadcasting and telecommunications division of the Giglio Group, will handle the transmission of the...

[Via Satellite 01-26-2017] China Central Television (CCTV) has signed a long-term distribution contract with Eutelsat Communications to broadcast three of its flagship channels in High Definition (HD) across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. CCTV-4 HD, CGTN HD (formerly CCTV News) and CGTN-Documentary HD (formerly CCTV Documentary) are now available in HD in Chinese...

[Via Satellite 01-25-2017] Mega-Choice Digital Network, an associate company of Crystal TV, Ghana’s first private television network, has launched its new Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV service in Ghana. The network inked a ten-year contract Eutelsat Communications for capacity connected to the African service area of the Eutelsat 16A satellite to support the launch of Mega-Choice that...

[Via Satellite 01-24-2017] An all-electric ABS satellite entered commercial service on Jan. 21, providing enhanced satellite services including Direct-To-Home (DTH) television services on Jan. 21 to customers in Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Russia, South Asia and South East Asia. The Boeing-built satellite, ABS 2A, joins ABS 3A as Boeing’s second all-electric propulsion...

[Via Satellite 01-20-2017] Sky Deutschland has signed a multi-year contract extension for back-up services with MX1, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES. The contract ensures that, in case of any technical issues with Sky Deutschland’s main signal, the broadcaster’s programming will be restored in “a short time frame,” from the MX1 Broadcasting Center in Unterfoehring,...

[Via Satellite 01-19-2016] Beta Film, an international-operating distributor of television, home video and new media content, has extended its existing service contract with MX1, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES. This new long-term contract extends and expands the existing agreement, which began in 2009, and covers a wide range of services, including content, picture, data...

[Via Satellite 01-17-2017] Palau Telecoms has increased network capacity with O3b Networks for the fifth time in less than 24 months, nearly doubling its service capacity since going live over O3b in January 2015. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) has since upgraded regularly to keep up with subscriber demand, twice each in 2015 and 2016,...