Advanced Television

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Discovery, TIM Olympic mobile service

Discovery Communications and Italian telco TIM have revealed what they say is a first of its kind Olympic Games partnership, bringing the Games to more people across more screens. In the first of these digitally-focused deals offering exclusive and differentiated content to mobile operators across Europe, TIM’s customers will gain exclusive access and will be […]

June 26, 2017

NZ: SKY, Vodafone end merger agreement

New Zealand pay-TV operator Sky Network Television and telco Vodafone Europe B.V.1, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, have now decided to terminate the sale and purchase agreement in relation to the proposed merger of SKY and Vodafone New Zealand. The parties have also decided to withdraw the appeal of the Commerce Commission […]

June 26, 2017By Colin Mann

Double launch & landing success for SpaceX

Launching a communications satellite into orbit is more or less routine. But SpaceX is proving that recovering a rocket from its launch is also fast proving to be routine. SpaceX on June 23rd launched a previously used (‘flight proven’) first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket with BulgariaSat-1 on board.  Then, just minutes later, and […]

June 26, 2017By Chris Forrester

Analyst: Mobile key for African OTT success

Sub-Saharan Africa OTT TV and video will still be a very immature sector by 2022, with movie and TV episode revenues reaching $640 million (€572m) for 35 countries, according to the Sub-Saharan Africa OTT TV & Video Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. However, this total is

June 26, 2017

Digital pay-TV in LatAm to reach 94% of total subs in 2022

Digital pay-TV continues to expand in Latin America. According to Dataxis, by 2016 digital TV was up to 85 per cent of total TV subscribers and is expected to reach 94 per cent by 2022, thus, making analogue pay-TV increasingly marginal. Growth is driven by the progression of DTH, a 100 per cent digital technology […]

June 26, 2017

Arianespace ready for double launch

June 28th will see Arianespace launch two satellites in a somewhat unusual set of circumstances. Weather permitting, the actual launch will take place from Kourou, French Guiana on June 28th. But the mission is complex. The rocket will carry two satellites, but one of the satellites is a so-called ‘condominium’ craft which is two satellites […]

June 26, 2017By Chris Forrester

Grey Juice Lab launches Movistar Play in Peru

Grey Juice Lab, a provider of VoD content and services, has further strengthened its relationship with Telefonica after being chosen to provide content and services for its Movistar Play VoD service in Peru. Movistar Play Peru, which was already offering movies via subscription and catch up, has worked with Grey Juice Lab to launch a […]

June 26, 2017

Netflix axes Girlboss

Netflix has continued its axing spree by cancelling Girlboss after just one season. The comedy-drama, inspired by the rags-to-riches true-life story of Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso, received mixed reviews when it debuted in April. Critics condemned the series for largely glorifying Amoruso, despite the brand mogul being the target of a series of lawsuits […]

June 26, 2017

Qatar ultimatum: “Close Al Jazeera”

Qatar has been given a 10-day ultimatum to close news channel Al Jazeera as part of a series of demands from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the other Gulf states. Kuwait, which is not involved in the dispute and is acting as middle man, delivered a list of demands to Qatar which include: Close the news […]

June 23, 2017By Chris Forrester

Brexit could lose UK over 1000 TV channels

An Expert Media Partners (EMP) report has found that UK-based international broadcasters face very serious challenges in a post-Brexit world, and predicts that the consequent impact is likely to start being felt this summer. The UK is currently by far the biggest location in the EU for companies broadcasting television channels to other EU member […]

June 23, 2017