Focus: Broadcasting

[Via Satellite 10-24-2016] Just over a year after purchasing satellite pay-TV provider DirecTV, U.S. telco AT&T is making a move to acquire media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc., the companies announced yesterday. The total transaction value between Time Warner’s $85.4 billion in equity value and accompanying debt is $108.7 billion, following which Time Warner...

[Via Satellite 10-21-2016] Pay-TV satellite operator Dish has included the YouTube video app on its Hopper 3 Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Set-Top-Box (STB). The company included the app in a recent software update. According to Dish, the company is the only nationwide pay-TV provider in the U.S. to deliver YouTube via an STB. YouTube joins...

[Via Satellite 10-20-2016] The growth rate of High Definition (HD) channels among Arab countries has slowed, but not stopped, according to research from Arab Advisors Group. Findings from the group’s research show that 61 more HD channels started broadcasting from February 2014 to March 2015, reaching a total of 195 channels. From March 2015 to...

[Via Satellite 10-20-2016] SES has signed a capacity agreement with C4K360 to launch the new C4K360 Ultra-HD channel across North America from the SES 1 satellite. The channel is tailored to young audiences, featuring content such as e-sports, lifestyle magazines and interviews, gaming, and extreme sports, along with live DJ sets, mega concerts and festivals....

[Via Satellite 10-20-2016] Telespazio, a global broadcast service provider, has formed a new agreement with Eutelsat to promote the growth of higher resolution video channels at the operator’s Hotbird video neighborhood. In addition to pursuing transmissions of standard digital platforms in first and Second Generation Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite (DVB-S and DVB-S2), Telespazio has committed to...

[Via Satellite 10-17-2016] Eutelsat and the Italian satellite television platform Tivusat announced they will broadcast the show “Medici: Masters of Florence” in Ultra-HD starting Oct. 18. The eight-part series starring Dustin Hoffman chronicles the rise of the Italian Renaissance political dynasty. “Medici: Masters of Florence” will be available exclusively from Tivusat on the RAI 4K...

[Via Satellite 10-12-2016] Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider Noorsat is seeing increased demand for satellite broadcast services across the Arab World, which bodes well for the company as it completes its 10th year anniversary. Originally established to provide satellite capacity for DTH, VSAT, internet and telephony services, the company today is focused principally on DTH. Noorsat...

[Via Satellite 10-11-2016] InfoSat-Laos, a leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV operator in Laos, has signed a multi-year transponder agreement on Thaicom 8 for the launch of its new DTH platform. The platform has more than 15 channels available in both Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) formats. Equipped with 24 Ku-band transponders covering Thailand,...

[Via Satellite 10-04-2016] Ultra-HD is progressing somewhat slower than early expectations, but is continuing to develop at a sound rate, according to content distributor and pay-TV operator SPI International. The Poland-based company launched a full linear 4K broadcast channel earlier this year, along with a global stand-alone 4K on-demand app, FunBox 4K/UHD, for Over-The-Top (OTT)...

[Via Satellite 10-04-2016] NHK, in collaboration with KDDI Corporation, Jupiter Telecommunications, and Japan Digital Serve Corporation, has developed a prototype compact receiver system for 4K and 8K broadcasts on cable TV. The broadcaster started testing satellite 4K and 8K broadcasting in August and is actively producing content in these formats. The prototype receiving system is...